Sindh govt decides to ease lockdown restrictions

Sindh CM will make formal announcement regarding the lockdown restrictions.

KARACHI (Dunya News) – Sindh government on Wednesday decided to relax lockdown in the province and the business and public activities will be gradually opened.

According to sources, the provincial government has decided to allow the resumption of certain economic activities, albeit with the condition that they follow precautionary measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah will make formal announcement regarding the lockdown restrictions.

The chief minister is holding consultions with the cabinet members, medical experts, administrative officers and senior officials in this regard, sources said.

CM Murad will also contact Prime Minister Imran Khan and other officials in this regard.

Sources further said that the decisions will be taken with national consensus and business activities must be permitted in a phased and limited manner.

 

Earlier today, the Sindh CM said that for the first time 404 new cases of coronavirus positive have been diagnosed and eight patients died leaving the death toll in three digits, 100.

 

"This is a very serious situation because we are detecting more cases and taking more bodies though the 20.5 percent recovery ration is encouraging but we have to save the life of our people." This he disclosed in his regular video message in which he unfolds the coronavirus situation in Sindh, said a spokesperson to the CM Sindh.

He said that 404 new cases emerged when 3729 tests were conducted. "This is quite worrisome that out of 404 cases, 332 belong to Karachi," he said and added "Karachi is on the increase in terms of new cases and deaths of the patients." The chief minister said that so far the government has conducted 51,790 tests against which the number of cases detected came to 5695. "The 404 new cases constitute 10.8 percent of 3729 tests conducted during the last 24 hours," he said.

The chief minister said that 4426 patients were under treatment, including 3187 or 72 percent in home Isolation, 762 or 17 percent at isolation Centers and 477 or 11 percent at different hospitals. "Our 54 patients are in critical condition, of them 18 are on ventilator," he disclosed.

He said that 208 patients have recovered from the infection of the coronavirus and returned to their homes added that over all recovery stood at 1169 patients or 20.5 percent. In Karachi division, the chief minister said that 332 cases have been reported.

Sharing the district-wise details, he said that South has 113 new cases, East 100, Central 39 Korangi 37, West 26 and Malir 17. "I want to request the people of Karachi to adopt precautionary measures, including wearing the masks, keeping at a distance from children and elderly people, avoid going out of home unnecessarily, otherwise results would be horrible," he said.

The chief minister sharing the data of other districts said that 14 cases have been diagnosed as positive in Sukkur, 13 each in Khairpur and Larkana, seven each in Shaheed Benazirabad and Shikarpur.

The chief minister said that the local spread in rural areas in also increasing which spoke loud of the failure of our people to observe WHO and experts SOPs. "We will not be able to defeat the novel virus unless our people will cooperate," he said.

The chief minister said that two flights from Kuala Lumpur and Abu Dhabi have brought back 505 stranded Pakistan to Karachi. "They all were tested, as a result 69 of them were diagnosed as positive and 39 results are yet to come," he disclosed. He added out of 69 COVID-19 positive cases, 22 belonged to Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21 to Sindh, 19 Punjab, five Balochistan and two Azad Kashmir.

The chief minister said that the testing capacity of the lab operating in Sindh was being enhanced and a new lab at Larkana was being established.

The chief minister said that some industrial units and online business have been allowed to operate but they would have to follow the SOP. "We have to secure ourselves and others also," he said.