One more patient of coronavirus has been diagnosed in Sindh and now the number of positive cases in the province has come to four, of them one has recovered and discharged from the hospital.
This was revealed on Sunday in a meeting of the Taskforce on Coronavirus held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM’s House. The meeting was attended by Minister for Health Dr Azra Pechuho, Minister for Local Government Nasir Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Sindh IG Mushtaq Maher, Addl Home Chief Secretary Usman Chachar, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shahalwani, Karachi Addl IG Ghulam Nabi Memon, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi, Health Secretary Zahid Abbasi, PDMA DG Salman Shah, Dr Faisal of Aga Khan, representatives of airport, civil aviation, Corps 5, Rangers and WHO, as well as other officials concerned.
Health Secretary Zahid Abbasi told the chief minister that the samples of four suspects were sent for lab test, and of them one had been diagnosed as positive while three others came back negative. The 50-year-old patient belongs to Karachi.
The chief minister directed the Health Department to isolate the persons, including family members who were in contact with the patient. The meeting was informed that the Sindh Health Department had conducted the test of 107 suspects, and of them four were diagnosed with the virus and 103 came back negative.
One of the coronavirus affected persons recovered and was discharged from the hospital on Saturday. At present, 265 persons are in quarantine in their homes.
The chief minister was told that 300 pilgrims who were scheduled to reach Sukkur on Sunday could not leave Taftan and now they would leave for Sukkur today (Monday). The chief minister said that all the pilgrims must be checked when they reach Sukkur. If they all clear they should be allowed to go their home and if any of the person has symptoms of coronavirus the passengers of the entire bus should be kept in quarantine, he directed the Sukkur commissioner, who joined meeting through video link.
The Sukkur commissioner said that he had developed a capacity of keeping 1,024 pilgrims in quarantine at Sukkur. All the facilities, right from electricity, water, sanitation, bedding, food and clothing to regular medical check-ups, testing and screening facilities and counselling had been made available at the facility developed at Sukkur.
The chief minister also directed the commissioner to establish a control room where presence of representatives of revenue, municipal corporation, SEPCO, buildings, public health and health department should be ensured.
The chief minister was told that 30 male medical officers, 18 women medical officers, two gynaecologists, three Senior WMOs and relevant paramedical and janitorial staff had been deputed to work at the centre. The commissioner confirmed that they all were present on their duty. Sindh IG Mushtaq Maher said that he had deputed 216 police personnel at the quarantine centre.
Murad Ali Shah directed the Sukkur commissioner to arrange eight ambulances to be kept at Sukkur centre, and added that there must be a standby generator. The commissioner said that a 27-bed isolation ward had been established at Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS). Murad Ali Shah approved a grant of Rs 30 million for Sukkur quarantine centre and vowed to provide more funds if and when required. Also, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said in a tweet that schools will reopen on March 16 as per schedule.
Meanwhile, none of the people quarantined at the Pakistan House at the Taftan border have tested positive for the coronavirus. They will be sent back home after staying in quarantine for a week.
There were fears that travellers coming from Iran would bring the coronavirus with them, so Pakistan closed the border and put all the arrivals in quarantine.
The PDMA said many people have completed a full week in quarantine and have tested negative for the virus. Over 2,000 will be sent to Quetta. So far, the number of people who crossed the border into Pakistan has been recorded at 4,000.
A quarantine centre has been set up in Quetta where 3,000 people can stay. It was set up after Pakistan House ran out of space. People will be taken there in more than 30 buses.
The PDMA said that once the people reach Quetta they will be screened again.
