KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Monday that there would be congregational prayers in mosques but compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and health advisories was made mandatory.

“The ulema and religious scholars have always cooperated with the government and I am sure their support will be continued,” he said in his public video message released almost daily from the CM House.

He added the situation of growing coronavirus cases was in front of everyone and the government needed support of the people to deal with the challenge.

Talking about resumption of business activities, he said that some export-based industrial units and other establishments had started operation.

Five more die of coronavirus in Sindh; DCs asked to identify hotspots, start extensive testing

“I have asked the deputy commissioners concerned to keep an eye on them just to ensure that they are complying with the SOPs already shared with them,” he said.

Mr Shah said that human life was precious and he would not allow anybody to put people at risk.

“Once again, I am requesting each and every individual to follow the SOPs, ensure social distancing and keep yourself and others safe and secure,” he said.

227 new Covid-19 cases

He said that 1,600 new tests were conducted on Monday and as many as 227 new cases emerged in the province. He said five more people lost their lives overnight, taking the death toll to 61 in 33 days.

“Out of 227 new cases, 156 belong to Karachi and 71 to other divisions of the province, but the local transmission has started wreaking havoc in the city,” he said.

Expressing concern over the situation, Mr Shah said that there were 68 cases of local transmission in district East, 31 in Central, 65 in South, 23 in Korangi, five in West and four cases in Malir.

“This is not an easy situation. Therefore, we will have to take some strict and proactive measures to contain it and stop its further spread,” he added.

The chief minister said that the government had conducted so far 26,058 tests and 2,764 of them were diagnosed as positive, including the 227 new cases. He added that unfortunately five more patients could not survive despite serious efforts by doctors.

Mr Shah said that the death toll stemming from the coronavirus had reached 61, which was 2.2 per cent of the total patients.

Talking about the positive cases other than Karachi, Mr Shah said that Khairpur had 33 cases, Tando Mohammad Khan eight, Jacobabad eight, Hyderabad seven, Shaheed Benazirabad six, Kashmore four, Larkana two, Mirpurkhas two and Badin had one case.

He said that 2,068 patients were under treatment, including 1,223 at their homes, 547 at isolation centres and 298 at different hospitals.

Sharing data of the Tableeghi Jamaat cases, Mr Shah said that 4,955 members were tested, 658 of them came as positive, 4,135 as negative while the results of 161 members were pending.

“Out of 658 positive cases, 158 belong to Hyderabad, 10 to Jamshoro, two to Badin, 13 to Tando Mohammad Khan, six to Tando Allahyar, three to Thatta, 10 to Dadu, seven to Sujawal, four to Mirpurkhas, one to Umerkot, four to Shaheed Benazirabad, 14 to Sanghar, 19 to Naushahro Feroze, 67 to Sukkur, 114 to Khairpur, 116 to Ghotki, 37 to Larkana, four to Kashmore, eight to Jacobabad and three to Shikarpur.”

Mr Shah also said that there were 75pc male patients.

Giving frequency of their ages, he said that 115 patients were lower than 10 years of age, 201 between 11 and 20, 553 between 21 and 30 years, 484 between 31 and 40 years, 340 between 41 and 50 years, 374 between 51 and 60 years, 274 between 61 and 70 years, 80 between 71 and 82 years, nine between 81 and 90 and one between 91 and 100.

“The age frequency shows that the worst affected groups were between 21 and 50 and 51 and 70. Therefore, everyone has to comply with health advisories,” he said.

DCs told to identify hotspots

The chief minister also called a meeting of all the commissioners and deputy commissioners at the CM House.

Commissioner of Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani and deputy commissioners attended the meeting while the commissioners and deputy commissioners of other divisions and districts joined the meeting through video link.

The chief minister told the deputy commissioners that the cases in the katchi abadis of Karachi and other districts were increasing day by day. “Local transmission is dangerous and must be stopped at once, otherwise it would be uncontrollable,” he said.

He directed them to identify hotspots and start extensive testing. “We don’t have any shortage of testing kits and it is time to utilise them,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2020