KARACHI: Keeping in view the rise in number of Covid-19 cases, the administration of Karachi’s South district has decided to tighten the lockdown in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and old city areas.
The local administration has also decided to set up a 100-bed isolation centre at Lyari General Hospital to treat patients of Covid-19. Besides, four more isolation centres would be established at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital in the next phase.
Around 300 people have been tested positive for novel coronavirus in the district so far while 70 of them have already recovered from the mysterious disease.
This was conveyed in a meeting chaired by South Deputy Commissioner Irshad Sodhar and attended by senior police officials of the district along with senior medical consultants of South City private hospital here on Sunday.
It was decided during the meeting that mobile testing would be conducted with the help of the hospital’s laboratory, which will cover all localities of South district including Saddar, Lyari, and Garden. Three more mobile teams would be constituted to increase the testing capacity in this connection.
Elaborating on plans for curbing the spread of the virus, Sodhar said that mobile tests would be conducted in collaboration with the Indus Hospital and walkthrough gates would be installed at three locations in the district.
Besides, the help of lady health workers was also being sought to carry out door-to-door screenings and raise awareness about safety measures ,while a 100-bed facility for Covid-19 was set up at Lyari General Hospital, he added.
According to data shared by Sodhar, 300 persons have tested positive for the coronavirus in South district so far, 70 of whom have recovered. The remaining have been placed under quarantine, including 50 at the isolation centre at the Expo Centre, he said.
The decision comes a day after the Sindh government decided to conduct random rapid tests for coronavirus detection in the capital city’s South district. The results of these tests, of which 300 will be carried out in a day, can be acquired in 10 minutes.
Moreover, the provincial government has also decided to convert Pakistan Railway Hassan Hospital into a quarantine facility, in addition to train bogies at City station being used for isolating Covid-19 patients.
