The exacerbating situation of covid-19 in Karachi has forced the Sindh government to revert to restrictions that it had eased after the waning of the virus.
The covid-19 positivity rate in Karachi has surged to 30% and the spike was aided by blatant violations before and during Eid-ul-Azha.
Karachi has returned to the previous state as the businesses are getting shut at 6 pm since Monday while indoor and outdoor dining have been banned too.
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Shrines, marriage halls, and marquees have also been closed to prevent mass gatherings.
Cases situation
Over 1,900 people returned positive in the city during the past 24 hours while there were 2,517 total cases in the province, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said.
The city’s East district is the most affected as 645 cases surfaced from there followed by 372 in South, 357 in Central, 346 in Korangi, 200 in Malir, and 69 in West.
The pandemic virus also claimed 20 lives in Sindh during the span and most of them were from Karachi.
Sindh health department has warned that Karachi is ‘still far away from the peak’ of the fourth wave.
The load on the hospitals is also increasing and it is being reported that designated beds for infected patients in private and public hospitals have been occupied.
There are more than 970 patients who are on ventilator support in different public and private hospitals of the metropolis while the number of active cases is over 35,700.
The Sindh government is also installing new oxygen tanks in various public healthcare facilities to cope up with the influx of patients.
Govt urges private sector to step forward
Further, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah held a meeting with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of private hospitals of Karachi on Monday.
He urged the participants to coordinate with the government in the hour of need.
Shah said that most people hesitate to visit private healthcare facilities owing to the high treatment cost and appealed to the CEOs to look into it.
He said that a large chunk of the population was poor and they have to fight together to get rid of the pandemic virus.
Centers run out of vaccine
Meanwhile, the vaccination rate is also unsatisfactory in the metropolis and the centers have run out of vaccines.
News360 correspondent learned that Expo Vaccination Center has reserved the remaining vials for second doses. However, it will be available for all until Thursday.