Coronavirus Update: Infections double overnight in Karachi

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

After witnessing a gradual decrease in its new COVID-19 infections for a week, Karachi reported a 120% increase in the number of daily new cases on July 22 when authorities in the government confirmed 1,109 new cases across the province during the last 24 hours, with 19 more related deaths.

The megapolis has reported an average about 400 new coronavirus cases daily since July 16. It registered 417 new cases on July 16, which increased to 477 on July 17 but gradually declined up to 179 on July 20. The infections increased to 324 on July 21.

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his daily COVID-19 situation statement on July 22, disclosed that Karachi registered 714 new cases during the last 24 hours.

He shared that with the confirmation of 1,109 new cases the overall infection tally rose to 115,213 on July 22 for the province. Sindh’s new case reporting percentage came as 11%, against the overall provincial rate of infection of 18%.

According to the COVID-19 data, as narrated by the Chief Minister, there were 16,927 active patients, including 16,165 at homes, 61 at the isolation centres.

As many as 701 patients were admitted at hospitals, with 495 in critical condition, while 72 were on ventilators.

A total of 96,226 patients recovered across the province so far, including 1,929 who recovered from the diseases on July 22. With the new COVID-19 related fatalities, the overall number of people having lost their lives in the province came as 2,060 (CFR=2%).

However, no detail about the hospitals and districts of the deceased persons was available either from the Chief Minister or the Sindh health department.

In addition to Karachi, the districts where new cases were confirmed during the last 24 hours ending July 22 morning included Hyderabad (95), Tando Allahyar (26), Thatta (26), Sukkur (25), Matiari (23), Badin (21), Jacobabad (15), Jamshoro (14), Larkana (11), Sujawal (13), Shikarpur (11), Ghotki (9), Umerkot (9), Kambar Shahdadkot (8), Tando Mohammad Khan (4), Tharparkar (3), Shaheed Benazirabad (2), Khairpur (2) and Mirpurkhas (1).

The male-female ratio of the infected persons in the province was reported as 70.6% and 29.4%.

Keen observers felt that the overnight doubling of new infections was nothing surprising as the province was not yet out of the epidemic. The more they will go for sampling the suspected cases the more they will get the COVID-19 infections, it was reckoned.

According to an official report, as of July 21, as many as 6,676 samples were tested at COVID-19 laboratories across Sindh, against a collective capacity of 14,850 tests, while 846, including 551 new cases were found positive.

The report further said that till July 21, one patient died at isolation centre, while 1,544 at hospitals across the province. It was further learnt that of the 375 ICU beds at Karachi’s COVID-19 hospitals 71 were occupied by on-ventilator patients, while 107 were having off-ventilator patients on July 21.

 According to another report, overall 40 deaths occurred across the country on July 20, including four at-home deaths which were reported from Sindh. It was estimated that about 500 COVID-19 patients died at home or on their way to hospitals in Sindh so far.

Yet another relevant data revealed that in all 518 COVID-19 patients died at homes during a period from May 9 to July 21 across the country, compared to 4,493 deaths taking place at hospitals.

Shehron Mein Shehr Karachi celebrates City of Lights befittingly

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Describing her relationship with Karachi as ‘ancient’ as the city itself, Prof Dr Nasreen Aslam Shah, an eminent educationist, has done a wonderful job by bringing out a voluminous book ‘Shehron Mein Shehr Karachi’ which celebrates the City of Lights in a befitting manner. 

The hardbound book, spread over more than 500 pages, is an incredibly worthy effort, undertaken by Prof Dr Nasreen Aslam Shah, serving as the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Karachi, besides being the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Studies and the Acting Director of the Area Study Centre for Europe. Her forte, over the years, has been social work. 

“This book is an expression of my affection with Karachi and it’s a gift package for those who desire to learn about it. I have tried my best to put together the knowledge about every conceivable subject so that the read could get complete information about the metropolis in a single volume,” the learned professor remarked in a brief chat with PNFS on July 22. 

Prof Dr Nasreen Aslam Shah disclosed having consulted innumerable publications about the city, including the various editions of Jumbo Karachi Guide, for the purpose of gathering and compiling authentic data for her book. 

“Being associated with the field of education and research, I have included detailed information about the various areas of Karachi. Obviously it’s practically not possible to feature each and every aspect of this huge city but I have tried my level best to incorporate maximum possible information in it,” she added. 

‘Shehron Mein Shehr Karachi’ is indeed any researcher’s dream because it contains so much information about the city, including its history, geography and demography, which might not be possible to acquire from any other single publication. 

Prof Dr Nasreen Aslam Shah deserves to be complimented and recognized for having produced such an informative book which should be a part of every library and archival record in the country and abroad.

Chinese satellite images helpful in controlling locust plague

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

The satellite images and meteorological data provided by China’s meteorological satellites can be useful to monitor Pakistan’s desert locusts thus preempted steps can greatly help crops from severe damage.

An official of China Meteorological Administration (CMA) disclosed, on July 22, having released special reports based on remote sensing data of locust attacks in Pakistan. 

“China’s Fengyun series satellites can generate information for analysis of locust-affected areas by monitoring rainfall, soil moisture and land surface temperature (LST) changes taking place in African and South Asian countries,” the CMA expert noted. 

He explained that hotter and wetter climate added more multiplication of locusts' population. The studies have also linked wind direction, speed, and other weather parameters to the migration of locusts. 

According to an update issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), the summer breeding of desert locust swarms has commenced in Pakistan’s Tharparkar, Nara and Cholistan deserts where hatching and band formation may increase later this month.