Karachi: Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah has highlighted the need to procure 5,000 ventilators tackle the possible intense coronavirus outbreak in the province.
According to reports, currently Sindh Health Department has only 484 ventilators in the entire province, of which only 353 are functional, 52 out of order, 43 to be installed, and 21 have been ordered.
Murad Ali Shah has approved the purchase of 290 ventilators in the first phase.
Public and private health institutions have been overwhelmed and are facing a shortage of necessary equipment to deal with COVID-19 patients. CM Sindh has also approved the purchase of 3.2 million personal protective equipment (PPE), 100 antigen rapid testing devices, and 100,000 testing kits.
Additionally, approval of new medical equipment also includes 50 reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-Lamp) testing devices, 10,000 RT-Lamp testing kits, and 29 portable X-ray machines.
Seven health facilities have been provided with testing machines for the virus.These include the Chest Clinic Lyari, the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Kashmore, the Civil Hospital Karachi, the Taluka Hospital Hala, the DHQ Hospital Sanghar, the DHQ Hospital Ghotki and the DHQ Hospital Naushehroferoze.
Earlier, SIUT, one of the leading public-private hospitals of Karachi announced that it is temporarily suspending testing people for the novel coronavirus after their testing abilities have been exhausted as hundreds of people are reporting daily to get tested for COVID-19.
According to Sindh Health Department, around 3,718 tests have been conducted so far, of which 3,304 have come out as negative with 418 positive samples. Out of 418 positive cases, 148 are of Karachi.
A total of 95 locally transmitted cases have been reported till now.
Sindh government has initiated the process of hiring additional health care staff. 2,366 nurses have been issued offer letters while the recruitment process of 1,000 doctors and 500 lab technicians is under way.
A total of 1,118 coronavirus cases have been reported in Pakistan, out of which 413 are from Sindh.
