HDU established at Karachi expo centre

Karachi: A High Dependency Unit (HDU) for COVID-19 patients has been set up with the joint cooperation of Sindh government and Pakistan Army at Expo Centre Karachi.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah inaugurated the HDU today (Monday), provincial minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and other civil and military officials were also present on the occasion.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, the chief minister lauded the efforts of Pakistan Army and medical staff and said that this HDU has been set up in a short span of 10-day.

Murad Ali Shah said that the services of Indus Hospital administration have been acquired to operate HDU and it includes 140 beds of oxygen and seven rooms.

The CM further said that Pakistan Army has also set up a field isolation centre of 1200 bed at Expo Centre Karachi.

On the other hand, Pakistan has confirmed 89 deaths in a single day by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 181,088. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 3,590.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 4,471 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours.

Sindh has become the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Till now 69,628 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 66,943 in Punjab, 21,997 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9,475 in Balochistan, 10,912 in Islamabad, 1,288 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 845 in Azad Kashmir.

Furthermore, 1,435 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 1,089 in Sindh, 821 in KP, 102 in Balochistan, 101 in Islamabad, 22 in GB and 20 in Azad Kashmir.

Patients are under treatment at quarantine centers of 462 hospitals where 7,295 beds are available.

Pakistan has so far conducted 1,102,162 coronavirus tests and 30,520 in last 24 hours. 71,458 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas many are in critical condition.