KARACHI: While witnessing its overall infection number surpass 120,000, Sindh added 654 (59%) more to overall daily national tally of COVID-19 cases on July 29 when authorities in the government confirmed 17 more fatalities during the last 24 hours, raising the total number of deaths to 2,189 for the province.

Other provinces that reported new infections on July 29 were Punjab (203), KPK (121) and Balochistan (54). Sindh’s overall infection rate came as 16% compared to 14% of the country.

According to official data related to testing laboratories performances, 9,520 samples were tested across Sindh during the last 24 hours, out of which 957 were detected positive for COVID-19, including 654 new cases.

Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences performed the maximum 3,537 tests, with a positivity rate of 4% (144), followed by Indus Hospital Karachi (2,893 tests with 390 positives), PCMD University of Karachi (659/90), Chughtai Lab Karachi (530/35) and AKUH (449/83).

The maximum percentage of COVID-19 positive samples was registered at SIUT Karachi (44%), followed by the Civil Hospital Karachi (32%), DUHS Hospital (28%), JPMC (25%), SASIMS Sehwan (25%) and others.

Of the 409 intensive care unit beds reserved for COVID-19 patients in Karachi hospitals, 152 were occupied, while only 16% of 1,350 high dependency unit beds were being utilized by patients on July 29, according to the official data.

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his daily statement on COVID-19 status, said that 9,520 samples were tested across the province during the last 24 hours ending on July 29 morning, with a positivity rate of 7%.

“A total 737,639 samples have been tested, so far, in the province, out of which 120,052 (16%) tested positive,” he added and informed that at present 8,319 active patients were receiving treatment, including 7,810 in home-isolation, 12 at designated isolation centres and 497 at various hospitals.

He further stated that health condition of 407 patients was considered critical while 68 of them were put on ventilators.

The district-wise breakdown of new cases came as: Karachi (335 cases, 51%), Hyderabad (22), Badin (21), Umerkot (18), Ghotki (17), Kashmore (17), Shikarpur (16), Tando Allahyar (16), Jamshoro (13), Matiari (12), Thatta (11), Sanghar (9), Tando Mohammad Khan (9), Shaheed Benazirabad (9), Mirpurkhas (8), Sukkur (7), Kambar Shahdadkot (6), Larkana (5), Dadu (4), Jacobabad (3), Khairpur (3), Naushero Feroze (5)) and Sujawal (3).

The details about hospitalization, gender, age and residential status of the lately deceased patients were neither provided in Sindh CM’s statement nor by the provincial health department–PNFS