Partial Lockdown Yields Results
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) declares a notable decline in new cases since the imposition of partial lockdowns in various parts of cities recognized as virus hotspots. Pakistan’s case fatality rate (CFR) currently stands at 1.97%, against the global average of 5.37%. Nearly 29,000 tests were conducted through which 6,604 cases were detected on June 19.
Lockdown Falters In Sindh
Law enforcement and district administration fail to dissuade residents in sealed hotspot areas in Karachi from going outside their homes, despite closure of shops, markets and other businesses. Residents in locked down areas of Hyderabad also flout restrictions – ignoring the local government’s mandate to wear masks when in public and to remain indoors at all times possible, as well as bypassing pickets to move between restricted and unrestricted parts of the city.
Doctors Contract Virus
76 healthcare professionals of Dr. Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi contracted COVID-19 in the past two and a half months. Of the infected personnel, 49 were doctors and nurses while the remaining were hospital staff. Many of the hospital’s infected staff members have recovered, and no deaths have been reported so far.
PMA Demand Tight Security
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Thursday June 18 announced a general boycott of all services if the government fails to ensure adequate security to doctors in hospitals following the June 18 incident in which an incensed policeman shot and injured an on-duty doctor of Karachi’s National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) for refusing to prescribe him sleeping pills. The PMA also reiterated healthcare professionals’ demands to enforce a strict, 15-day country-wide lockdown to mitigate the spread of the virus and unburden the healthcare sector.
Punjab Health Dept Updates Stats
The Punjab health ministry issues data on current state of hospital capacities and equipment availability in the province. According to the statistics, 211 out of 433 allocated ventilators in state-run hospitals across Punjab are currently available. In Lahore, a virus hotspot, only 62 of 204 ventilators are available for critical virus patients, while 3,069 of 3,964 beds are currently unoccupied.
Sindh Death Toll Climbs To 1,013
Sindh overtakes Punjab once again as most infected province as 2,894 new cases emerge in the past day alone. The province’s death toll crossed the 1,000 mark today when 49 more fatalities were reported on June 19, taking Sindh’s total virus-related deaths to 1,013.
