KARACHI: The Covid-19 situation in the city has significantly improved showing a 60 per cent to 80pc drop in hospitalisation, health experts told Dawn while underscoring the need for continuing vaccination efforts and encouraging the general public to follow the standard operating procedure (SOPs), particularly the use of face mask.

The health department data showed that Karachi reported 49,992 cases with 32pc average positivity in January 2022. In February so far, the city has reported 10,754 cases. The data on mortalities was unavailable.

“We are on the track and the good news is we have come out of the difficult situation that might have gotten worse. The need for caution, however, persists,” said Dr Saeed Khan, a professor of molecular pathology heading the Sindh Public Health Lab.

He added that efforts should be made to strengthen Covid-19 vaccination.

Over 10,700 cases reported in Karachi in February compared to 49,992 in January

About the latest data on new Covid-19 variants, he said that those were likely to emerge with time, but experts were hoping that severity of the illness might reduce.

“But this would happen only when people are vaccinated against Covid-19, leading to consistent herd immunity and we are able to see no disease outbreaks. Also, there is hope that the natural immunity built against the disease might play a more effective role in protecting people against the emerging variants in future than the vaccine.”

Sharing his concerns, Dr Rafiq Khanani, president of the Infection Control Society of Pakistan, referred to a recent WHO presser in which the world health body warned countries of what could happen if all Covid-19 restrictions were withdrawn.

“The body has urged countries to remain committed to vaccination and SOPs as there is a looming threat that the Omicron variant currently prevailing with three subtypes might take a dangerous form,” he explained.

The general public, he said, must continue to use masks and avoid close contact. “The elderly population and those with health complications will always remain vulnerable even if the disease loses its severity. Second, the government should start vaccinating children of above five years so that they are protected and do not become a source of transmission.

“There has been so much propaganda against vaccination but the worldwide experience has proved that vaccinated communities saw less infection and disease severity,” he said.

Experts believe that it is important that the WHO and developed countries should extend support to African countries in getting sufficient vaccine supplies.

Poor countries needed support, they pointed out, not just to protect their own population, but also for greater benefit involving the whole world. New variants emerging at one part of the world could easily be transported to other regions.

Sharing data of the Sindh Infectious Disease Hospital, Dr Abdul Wahid Rajput, said there had been almost 60pc reduction in patient admission from January to February.

“Last month, the number of admitted patients has been reduced from 140 to 50 right now. Of them, 23 patients are in critical condition,” he said, adding that the hospital had seen 110 deaths this year and it was mostly patients in their 70s.

“Some of these patients were fully vaccinated. We had four under-five children. The youngest patient was three-month-old. They all needed oxygen, though they experienced less severity and recovered.”

Dr Yahya Tunio, deputy executive director at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said the hospital had 154 admissions with 75 deaths in January and 71 admissions this month with 28 deaths.

“Seventy-five per cent of the admitted patients were unvaccinated. The government should continue with mass vaccination along with booster dose campaigns,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022