Coronavirus Update: Sindh reports higher infection rate than national average

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh’s overall COVID-19 infection rate came as 11.08% against the country’s overall 9.15% on April 25 when it reported another 287 new cases of the virus infection, with three more deaths of patients. 

The official COVID-19 data, updated at 10.45 pm on April 25, showed Pakistan had total 12,644 confirmed cases of infection out of 138,147 samples tested across the country, while Sindh had overall 4,232 COVID patients after testing 38,188 people across the province since February 26 when the first coronavirus positive case was found in Sindh as well as Pakistan. 

A study of the provincial data revealed that Sindh which was having the overall infection rate ranging from 9.5% to 10.5% till April 20, got an increase of hardly one per cent in it in the following days. The overall coronavirus infection rate of Sindh stood at 11.08 on April 25.

The increase, according to some observers including government officials, can be attributed to the reported expansion in the testing activities after April 21, which covered the Pakistanis returning from Oman through the Karachi airport. 

A day back in his video message, the Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, sharing details about Pakistanis stranded in other countries had said that 849 persons, including 62 crew members were flown back recently. 

They were tested for coronavirus and 127 among them had tested positive while the results of 26 were yet to come, he added. 

In the meantime, the Sindh Health department’s daily coronavirus summary revealed that the three persons, who lost their lives due to the lethal infection, during the last 24 hours ending at 8 am on April 25, were living in Karachi and their age ranged between 51 to 74 years. 

Overall 78 people have died of COVID-19 in the province, including 72 at Karachi, three at Hyderabad, two at Sukkur and one at Shaheed Benazirabad, while 802 persons have recovered from the disease and as many as 3,352 patients were undergoing treatment at hospitals, isolation centres and homes. 

Karachi reported 217 new cases of COVID-19, followed by Larkana (17), Hyderabad (13), Sukkur (12), Shikarpur (11) and Sanghar (6). Shaheed Benazirabad, Ghotki, Kamber Shahdakot, Mirpurkhas reported two new cases each, while Badin, Tando Mohammad Khan and Tando Allahyar reported a case each.  

As per the official data, the district-wise breakdown of the COVID-19 cases stood at: Karachi (2,909), Sukkur (392), Hyderabad (256), Khairpur (167), Ghotki (124), Larkana (107), Shaheed Benazirabad (84), Tando Mohammad Khan (32), Sanghar (25), Naushehro Feroze (19), Shikarpur (17), Jamshoro (14), Dadu (14), Badin (13), Jacobabad (11), Kashmore (9), Sujawal (9), Mirpurkhas (8), Tando Allahyar (6), Thatta (4), Tharparkar (4), Umerkot (4) and Kamber Shahdadkot (4).