KARACHI: Three more patients died of Covid-19 on Friday in the city which saw the detection of over 2,800 new infections, including 21 cases of the Omicron variant when reduced testing was carried out, official statistics showed.

According to the data released by Chief Minister House, out of a total of 3,467 Covid-19 cases diagnosed in the province, 2,884 were reported in Karachi and 269 in Hyderabad. The condition of 339 patients is stated to be critical.

“Twenty-one more cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus emerged when 24 samples were tested, lifting the tally to 521 cases of the variant detected so far. A total of 3,467 new cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed through 15,412 tests,” it said.

For some days, more than 17,000 Covid-19 tests were being conducted daily in the province.

21 cases of Omicron variant detected during reduced testing

Sindh data

Out of the 2,884 cases reported in Karachi, 1,090 cases were reported in District East, 698 cases in District South, 428 cases in District Central, 297 in cases District Korangi, 204 cases in District Malir and 167 cases in District West.

Hyderabad had 269 cases, Shaheed Benazirabad 41 cases, Dadu 40 cases, Sukkur 32 cases, Ghotki and Jamshoro 22 cases each, Badin 21 cases, Naushahro Feroze 20 cases, Tharparkar 13 cases, Jacobabad 12 cases, Sujawal 11 cases, Larkana cases, Matiari cases, Shikarpur and Tando Allahyar 10 cases each, Kashmore nine cases, Mirpurkhas five cases, Qambar, Khairpur and Sanghar one each case.

Currently, 36,473 patients are under treatment; 36,051 are in home isolation, 26 at isolation centres and 396 at different hospitals. Eighteen patients were put on ventilators.

So far, 7,435,098 tests have been conducted against which 518,330 cases have been diagnosed. Of them, 91.5 per cent or 474,127 patients have recovered, including 787 overnight.

Over the last seven days, a total of 250,000 vaccines have been administered daily in Sindh while 30,000 doses have been administered in educational institutions.

Just a day earlier on Thursday, 17 patients lost their lives to coronavirus in Karachi.

Keeping the highly worrisome situation in view, the Sindh government following the National Command and Operation Centre’s latest communication notified a ban on indoor events from Jan 21, instead of Jan 24 as had been announced earlier.

The government authorities have urged the people to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by health experts regarding coronavirus.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2022