Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 47 new cases of coronavirus and three more deaths, taking the provincial toll of cases to 744 and the total number of deaths to 34, while the national death toll has hit 91, with total confirmed cases standing at 5,232.
Ten of the new cases in KP are from Mansehra, while Peshawar, Mardan and Swabi have each reported one death.
In Peshawar, a 45-year-old Afghan man died of coronavirus at the Medical Teaching Hospital. According to an advisory issued by the hospital administration, the victim was brought to the hospital on April 2 and was tested for the virus on April 3, after he showed symptoms.
The test result came back positive and the patient passed away on April 11, according to the advisory. The body has been handed over to a relative of the deceased and will be taken to Afghanistan for burial. It was not immediately clear if the patient is included in the provincial tally of COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, Gilgit-Baltistan has reported eight new cases of the coronavirus while Azad Jammu and Kashmir has reported five new cases, according to the government’s COVID-19 website. Two more recoveries have also been reported.
Balochistan also reported one new case of the novel coronavirus, taking the provincial tally to 224.
According to the provincial government’s spokesperson, Liaquat Shahwani, a total of 68 samples were sent for tests on Sunday, of which one had returned positive.
On the other hand, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday said that 93 new cases of coronavirus surfaced in the province during the past 24 hours. In a statement, CM Murad Ali Shah said that 569 new tests were conducted on Sunday and 93 of them turned out to be positive. He said, “So far, 13,309 tests have been conducted for the COVID-19 and 1411 of them turned out to be positive.”
The chief minister said that 389 of the diagnosed patients recovered and discharged from the hospitals. Murad said that 30 people have died from novel coronavirus across the province so far.
Also, six policemen in Karachi were also infected with the contagion in the port city on Sunday. Sources relayed the driver of a senior police officer and a personal staff officer (PSO) have been affected by the deadly virus with a number of other police officers from the East and West zones of the metropolis contracting the disease. It has been decided to get cops suspected to have caught the contagion tested.
The sources said spread of the disease among the policemen would make matters worse. They said the police personnel are in direct contact with the public all time as they have been discharging their duties on the roads dealing with crowds during the lockdown. They said special measures would have to be taken to protect the police personnel from the deadly virus.
Meanwhile, Rangers and police in Karachi have blocked several roads in 11 union committees (UC) in the city’s East district by erecting temporary barriers and parking heavy vehicles, officials and witnesses said on Sunday.
The Sindh government had sealed off 11 UCs in East district to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the wake of increasing cases.
A notification issued by the deputy commissioner concerned said that entire areas falling within the limits of UC-6 Gilani Railway, UC-7 Dalmia, UC-8 Jamali Colony, UC-9 Gulshan II, UC-10 Pehalwan Goth, UC-12 Gulzar-i-Hijri, UC-13 Safoora Goth, UC-14 Faisal Cantonment, UC-2 Manzoor Colony, UC-9 Jacob Line and UC-10 Jamshed Quarters have been sealed forthwith as “record confirmed reports of individuals infected with COVID-19 residing in these areas”.
This decision was made under the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act of 2014 and the DC-East believed that this step was in the “larger public interest and to prevent widespread outbreak of COVID-19”. Soon after the order was issued, police and Rangers cordoned off the areas to “ensure public safety”.
Over in Multan, 12 doctors and six nurses tested positive for coronavirus at Nishtar Medical Hospital, a senior official at Multan’s biggest health facility said on Sunday.
Nishtar Medical University Vice Chancellor Dr Mustafa Kamal Pasha said the paramedics were exposed to the virus while treating a patient.
“The staff had been treating a patient who had a lung disease. After the patient died his test came back positive for the virus. We conducted tests of everyone in the ward after the patient passed away,” he added.
While the government says it is making all efforts to ensure the availability of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for the paramedics treating the coronavirus patients, doctors across the country have complained of the shortage of protective gear.
Dr Qaiser Sajjad, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) told a private news channel that the government needed to ensure proper protective gear was given to those dealing with coronavirus patients.
“This is a serious issue if the doctors aren’t protected,” Dr Sajjad said. “The government keeps saying it will only provide protective gear to those working in the intensive care unit.” “If we do not take precautions, our health system would collapse,” he warned.
“If steps to protect the doctors aren’t taken, they will sit at home,” the PMA official added. “Those doctors sitting at home are not being used by the government. We could face a shortage of health professionals in the coming days,” Dr Sajjad noted. “More than 50 doctors have contracted the virus and this is only about the ones we know,” he added. Two doctors have died after contracting the virus during treatment of COVID-19 patients with many more affected due to shortage protective gear.
Earlier this month, doctors in Balochistan went on strike against the shortage of PPEs and resumed work after assurances from the authorities. Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa ordered military officials to dispatch emergency medical supplies to Quetta to meet the requirement.
Also, another pilot of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Sunday. According to PIA’s general manager medical service, the pilot had operated a special flight from Pakistan to Toronto, Canada on 2nd of April and had arrived homeland on 8th of this month.
He maintained that the pilot was screened for the virus upon arrival, adding that the test results of the pilot came out positive and he was declared as infected.
The official said that he pilot has been shifted to a quarantine centre where his second test for the virus will be carried out tonight.
