KARACHI, APR 03 (DNA) – Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah on Friday chaired a meeting of all provincial deputy commissioners except that of Karachi, where it was decided to establish an isolation centre in each district headquarter of the province amid coronavirus pandemic.

“The concerned deputy commissioners will establish a quarantine facility in each district headquarter,” the chief minister said while chairing the meeting, adding that the government would provide every possible facilities needed in the isolation centre.

He said that they would provide ventilators and other necessary medical equipment to six tertiary care hospitals in the province.

“Overall 450,000 people came back from the Tableeghi Jamaat congregation,” he said while speaking on efforts to tackle virus outbreak in province and added that several of them who returned to Hyderabad had tested positive for the virus.

He said that they would keep all members of the group in isolation to avoid any spread of the virus. “If anyone of them would feel deterioration in health condition, he will be shifted to a hospital,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho confirmed two new deaths from novel coronavirus in Karachi, raising the provincial death tally to 13. Provincial Health Minister Azra Fazl Pechuhu said that both patients were tested positive on April 1st and were cases of local transmission.

The patients were 82 and 60 years old and had underlying health conditions “We can confirm 2 more deaths in Karachi. Both patients were tested positive on 1st April & we cases of local transmission. They also had underlying health conditions,” reads a Tweet by Sindh Health Department.

This brings the total number of deaths in Sindh to 13. Meanwhile, 22 new cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed in Sindh on Friday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 783.

According to the Sindh health ministry, six cases were reported in Karachi, 14 in Hyderabad and two cases were registered in Ghotki. As many as 707 patients infected with the virus are under treatment in the province.

A total of 65 patients have recovered from the pandemic so far in the province. The number of local transmission of the cases has soared to 438 in Sindh, while 7504 people have been tested for the coronavirus infection thus far. =DNA

=====================