Coronavirus Update: Karachi death count shoots to 16, with 625 new cases

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Amidst concerns over the relaxed COVID-19 related restrictions, health authorities confirmed surge in Karachi daily death toll from coronavirus, with 16 people losing their lives in 24-hours duration, on May 13, pushing the total fatalities to 234 in the province. 

According to official data, Sindh reported no COVID-19 deaths from other districts which have cumulatively presented 29 deaths so far. Karachi, which reported its first coronavirus death on March 20, has witnessed considerable increase in coronavirus mortalities in recent weeks. 

Last week (May 7-13), there were 66 deaths at an average of just over nine deaths per day in the megapolis, which has reported over 10,000 COVID-19 positive cases so far. 

The Sindh health department’s daily summary updated at 8 am on May 13 revealed that the deceased patients included three women, aged from 30 to 81 years, and 13 men, aged from 42 to 85 years. However, the report was silent on the medical history of the unfortunate patients. 

There were 195 coronavirus patients in critical conditions and 27 on ventilators at various hospitals in Sindh, as per an international health body report. 

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a statement on May said that 22.5% of the patients dying of COVID-19 were over 81 years, while another 11.5% of the deceased were in the age brackets of 71-80, 8.5% aged from 61 to 70 years, 4.6% from 51 to 60 years. 

About 76% of the people dying of Covid-19 were male, while 24% were females across the province, he added. 

As per the health department data, Karachi reported 625 new infections in 24 hours, followed by Larkana (24), Hyderabad (22), Ghotki (14), Sukkur (10), Kashmore (8), Shikarpur (7), Shaheed Benazirabad (5), Sujawal (4), Tando Mohammad Khan (4) Naushehro Feroze (2), and Jacobabad (2), while Jamshoro, Thatta, Khairpur, Kambar Shadadkot districts reported one case each. 

As many as 4,226 samples were tested in last 24 hours, 731 (over 17%) of which were found infected with COVID-19, taking the total tested samples to 103,343 in the province.