KARACHI: As many as 762 new cases of the coronavirus have been detected through 4,336 tests while 14 more patients died during the last 24 hours in Sindh.

This was stated by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued from the CM House on Saturday.

According to the statement, 4,336 samples were tested against which 762 new cases emerged. The government had conducted 153,902 tests so far which resulted in 21,645 confirmed virus cases, constituting 14 per cent of the total tests, he said.

He said that 14 patients of Covid-19 lost their lives, taking the deaths to 354, which was 1.6pc of the total patients. He added that 155 patients were in critical condition, 34 of whom were on ventilators. He prayed for their early recovery.

The CM said that at present 14,078 patients were under treatment; of them 12,424 at home isolation, 794 at isolation centres and 860, or 6.2pc, at hospitals.

Talking about the patients cured on Saturday, he said 198 patients were discharged and so far 7,213 patients had recovered. “Our recovery ratio stands at 33.4 per cent,” he said.

The chief minister said that Karachi had 618 out of total 762 cases. “This shows that local transmission is still spreading,” he said.

Giving district-wise break-up of cases in Karachi, he said that there were 190 new cases in East district, 115 in South, 112 in Central, 81 in Malir, 76 in Korangi and 44 in West.

In other districts, the chief minister said, there were 20 cases in Larkana, 15 each in Hyderabad and Khairpur, eight cases in Shaheed Benazirabad, three in Qambar-Shahdadkot, two each in Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas and one each in Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar and Jamshoro.

Flight operations

Talking about flights, the chief minister said that 28 planes, from April 18 to May 5, brought in 5,051 stranded overseas Pakistanis to Karachi and 976 of them were found positive for the coronavirus.

The chief minister urged the people of Sindh to stay at home and avoid unnecessary crowding in markets and shopping malls. “This is in your interest, otherwise you will be the carrier of the virus for your family,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2020