Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, during his daily briefing on the coronavirus situation in the province, revealed that in the past 24 hours, four more persons had succumbed to the novel virus in Sindh, taking the provincial death toll to 35.

After these latest fatalities, the death rate from Covid-19 in the province, which is the percentage of people who tested positive for the virus and later passed away, reached 2.3 per cent, up from 2.1pc a day earlier.

Many experts are of the view that the death rate, or the case fatality rate as it is otherwise referred to, is a much telling statistic to gauge the impact of the virus in different regions and to guide a response strategy.

The chief minister said 66 news cases of the novel coronavirus were detected in the past day, while a total of 663 tests were conducted, which translates into a positive test rate of around 10pc. Three days ago, on April 11, the CM had sounded alarm when he revealed that 104 out of the 531 tests conducted in the province had turned out positive – a positive rate of 20pc – which he said was among the highest in the world.

Subsequently, orders to seal 11 union councils were issued immediately, where authorities said a high number of infected individuals were living. However, the order was later limited to only specific streets and lanes where a "high incidence" of cases were located.

CM Shah, during his briefing today, said a total of 14,503 tests had been conducted by Sindh so far, while the total number of positive cases as of today stood at 1,518.

He also reiterated his government's strategy to isolate and lock down areas that were reporting more cases, and to continue more testing in the slum areas of Karachi.

Lockdown decision expected in the evening

The chief minister also said that a decision on the extension of the lockdown in Sindh will be made on the directions of the federal government, adding that the National Coordination Committee (NCC) will meet today and decide on a future course of action in this regard.

Meanwhile, in a separate meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), SOPs for industries were discussed if the government decides to reopen business.

The meeting, chaired by federal minister Asad Umar, discussed ongoing efforts to deal with the coronavirus crisis and the steps taken by different ministries to combat the disease, APP reported.