Coronavirus Update: No respite in Karachi

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Karachi witnessed no respite from coronavirus even after lockdown and strict restrictions as the health authorities confirmed 339 new infections and six deaths among the virus patients, including a young woman on May 6, taking the city’s COVID-19 infected people to 6,535. 

Karachi has reported 336 new cases every day on average during a period of April 30 to May 6, against the provincial daily average of 421 cases during the same period. 

The surge in new cases has created a fresh wave of panic among the citizens as they feel that government was failing to contain the disease in the megapolis while the number of relevant deaths involving young males and females was also on the rise. 

The government was urged to ensure improved care delivery to the patients, particularly those who are infected and keeping themselves in home-isolation. 

A medical practitioner said that efforts should be made to improve the overall patient recovery rate and come up with a strategy to overcome the patients receiving treatment at homes as they are sure to multiply the infection.

Prof Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi, a senior microbiologist, observed that keeping the infected patients and treating them at home has reduced the huge load on inadequately equipped, untrained medical professionals who never had a chance to deal with such patients, but it’s not advisable any more. 

“The current style of confining COVID-19 positive cases at homes along with their family members is not advisable considering the nature of transmission and survival of the virus on surfaces, in the aerosols produced by talking, sneezing, coughing by the patients. It will be a great source of infection for the family as well as the neighboring community,” she elaborated. 

The professor further said that the home based coronavirus patients stay with a family 0f 5-10 people, in some cases older people over 60 years. 

“Think about katchi badis and hutments,” she added questioning that, having just 2-3 rooms in the homes, how could they be expected to contain the virus. 

She recommended immediate transfer of the patients from home to isolation wards with negative pressure in a hospital which has capacity to handle and treat such patients. All contacts of the patients should be tested for infection. 

An official report, updated on May 6, said that about 5,150 infected people were in home isolation, while around 750 were in the official isolation centres and about 600 were admitted at 31 corona designated health facilities across the province. 

The health department summary, released to media on May 6, stated that a total 1,731 coronavirus patients, including 730 at Karachi, have recovered from the disease. 

It further said that a total nine more COVID-19 patients lost their lives in four districts of Sindh, pushing the provincial tally of the disease deaths to 157. 

Though it refrained from details of hospitals where the deceased persons were receiving treatment the summary said that six persons, including two females, of ages ranging from 18 to 81 died at Karachi, while a 35-year-old man died at Shikarpur, one man of 42 years at Sanghar and another 65-year-old man lost his life in Badin. 

The number of COVID-19 cases rose to 8,640 for the province as 451 new infections were recorded during the 24 hours ending at 8 am on May 6. Karachi division reported 339 new cases, followed by Shikarpur (24), Sukkur (19), Shaheed Benazirabad (15), Ghotki (9), Larkana (6), Hyderabad (5) Sujawal (4) while Badin, Dadu, Mirpurkhas reported one case each. 

The overall number of samples tested rose to 72,544 samples as 3,671 more samples were tested for coronavirus on May 6. The overall COVID infection rate came as 11.91%.