Kohat hospital PCR machine collecting dust
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing machine, a device used in detecting COVID-19 traces in DNA samples, provided by the provincial government to the District Headquarter (DHQ) Teaching Hospital KDA Kohat has been non-functional since July due to a lack of RNA extraction kits. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes.
Despite repeated requests by the hospital administration, the provincial health department has neither provided the kits nor a pathologist to operate the machine.
Sindh positivity rate climbs to 3.6%
Advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister on Law and Anti-Corruption Establishment, Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui urged caution and adherence to SOPs as the provincial case positivity rate hit 3.6% on September 29. The province’s positivity rate is 55% higher than the national rate of 2.33% on the same day. Sindh has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases out of all the provinces (136,795) as well as the greatest death toll (2,497).
Coronavirus situation update
Active coronavirus cases across Pakistan jumped by 49.98% in the span of two weeks – from 5,936 on Sept 15 to 8,903 on September 29. Daily case positivity bumped up to 2.33% as 747 fresh cases were detected from 32,031 tests carried out in past 24 hours. Two deaths each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one death in the Islamabad Capital Territory raised the national death toll to 6,479 at a sustained fatality rate of 2.1%. The recovery rate did continue on its descent, temporarily floating at 95.1% as 541 recovered from the contagion overnight.