KARACHI: 19 more coronavirus cases were detected in Sindh on Friday, bringing the provincial tally of COVID-19 cases to 440.
According to the Sindh Health Department, 11 cases were reported in Karachi, 7 from Larkana quarantine center and one positive COVID-19 case was detected in Hyderabad.
Karachi’s count of COVID-19 positive patients has reached 164, while there are a total of 114 cases of local transmission in the port city so far.
Out of 449 cases in Sindh, 14 patients have recovered so far. All recovered patients belong to Karachi and Hyderabad.
Earlier, the Sindh government announced ban congregational prayers in mosques including Friday prayers in the province till April 05.
The decision was announced by the provincial spokesman Murtaza Wahab on his Twitter account. He said that the provincial government has taken a big decision placing a ban on congregational prayers at the mosques from masses. “The decision is taken after consulting all religious leaders hailing from different school of thoughts and medical experts,” he said.
It must be noted that the number of deaths from the coronavirus rose to 10 while 1,235 have been affected, according to the latest report released by the National Command and Control Center on coronavirus on Friday.
The national dashboard, maintained by the federal ministry of health, reported that Sindh province has been affected more due to the virus, where the number of cases stands at 429, Punjab 408, Balochistan 131, KP 147, Gilgit-Baltistan, 91, Islamabad 27 and two cases were reported in Azad Kashmir.
Meanwhile, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said not allowing Pakistanis stranded in foreign countries is cruelty.
All the forsaken Pakistanis should be brought back without further delay and allowed to go home after proper screening for coronavirus, he said.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the stranded Pakistanis are facing many difficulties as they are now short of money and their difficulties are increasing by every passing day.
The former minister noted that many countries are under lockdown, some have imposed curfew while the role of some of our embassies is far from satisfactory.
The welfare of people is the responsibility of the government which should not be ignored anymore, he said, adding that Pakistan stopped air operations of March 21 but later announced special flights for foreigners stranded in Pakistan.
If flights can be arranged for foreigners then why not for Pakistanis who can come back while these flights return, he asked.
Mian Zahid Hussain noted that coronavirus has damaged the global and local economy and the people living below the poverty line can be doubled in a short span. He said that the response of the government is not very encouraging as the current crisis is graver than the one world braved 12 years ago.
He said that the government has allocated rs350 billion for the poor which is highly insufficient. He said that petroleum prices have been slashed a little while the tariff of gas and electricity has been kept intact which is amazing. – NNI