16 more patients recover from coronavirus in Sindh, death toll stands at 18

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday confirmed that 16 more people have recovered from the COVID-19 in Karachi, ARY News reported.

Charing a meeting in Karachi, the chief minister Murad Ali Shah said that as many as 309 patients have recovered from COVID-19 thus far. He said that 54 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Tuesday, taking the provincial tally to 986.

Murad Ali Shah further said that one more patient has died from the novel coronavirus today, while overall 10219 coronavirus tests had been conducted in the province so far.

As per breakup, 16 of the deceased were from Karachi and 2 deaths were reported in Hyderabad.

As many as 662 people are under treatment in the various hospitals of the province, he added. Sindh CM also paid tribute to Dr Qadir Somroo who lost his life due to coronavirus on Monday night.

He was treating the virus patients at a health facility in Gulshan-e-Hadeed area of the city when he contracted the infection on March 28.

He was shifted to Indus Hospital for treatment and remained on a ventilator, before he lost his battle against the virus on Monday.

The doctor, who was a medical superintendent of Alkhidmat Fareeda Yaqoob Hospital, a charity hospital, has played an important role in establishing a special ward for treating COVID-19 patients.

The ward at the hospital was equipped with three ventilators to treat intensive care patients along with other basic facilities.

It is pertinent to mention here that Dr Usama Riaz became the first doctor in the country who died after contracting the virus in Gilgit-Baltistan on March 22 and since then many doctors across the country have tested positive for the virus mainly due to lack of availability of the personal protective equipment (PPE).