Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Sindh has become the first province in Pakistan to successfully conduct Passive Immunization through Plasma Therapy on 11 Covid-19 patients. Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, in a video message, said nine patients have already tested negative for coronavirus in the province.
Meanwhile, Punjab government on Monday revoked the decision to impose a strict lockdown in the province for three days — Fridays, Saturday, and Sundays — in a meeting chaired by provincial minister for law Raja Basharat.
The meeting decided that implementation of SOPs will be ensured and that the shops would open from 8am to 5pm.
The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients has climbed to 43,286 with 15,346 cases in Punjab, 17,241 in Sindh, 6,230 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2,820 in Balochistan, 540 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 997 in Islamabad and 112 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The virus has claimed at least 924 lives while at least 11,922 coronavirus patients have recovered.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department, in its daily situational report, has confirmed 16 more deaths due to coronavirus in the past 24 hours to bring the provincial death toll to 334. Twelve deaths were reported from Peshawar and one each in Swabi, Swat, Buner and D I Khan.
The Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department of Punjab has confirmed eight more deaths due to coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the provincial death toll to 260 and 762 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed to bring the tally to 15,346.
Claiming that Sindh was far ahead of other provinces in terms of testing capacity for the novel coronavirus, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah stated that the province was now able to conduct 6,550 tests a day.
In a statement issued on Monday, Shah said that there were 19 laboratories in the province testing samples for Covid-19, adding that they were operating at 77 per cent of their capacity.
Sharing updates about the coronavirus outbreak in Sindh, he apprised that 864 people were diagnosed with the virus out of the 4,679 samples tested on the day. The tally has soared to 17,241 in the province, while a total of 127,573 people have been tested for Covid-19.
Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, Hamza Shafqat, has announced that shopping malls in the federal capital have been opened. “Shops have also been allowed to remain open throughout the week,” said the DC.
He added that small and big shops, shopping and barbershops will remain open after Eid as well.
