Karachi sees alarming surge in Delta variant cases

KARACHI: Amid growing number of COVID-19 cases mainly in Karachi, the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital has halted all its key functions, shut outpatient departments (OPDS) and suspended surgeries till further orders, as a doctors’ body warned that the highly transmissible Delta variant accounted for almost 100 per cent of the cases in the metropolis.

These developments came as a grim reminder of the fast changing situation in the city where the infection rate had already crossed 23 per cent mark during the last week.

The Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (Pima) advised people to follow the defined guidelines and ensure implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPS), warning that their defiance could lead to disastrous consequences.

“The fourth wave in Karachi has turned dangerously serious,” said Pima president Dr Abdullah Mutaqi in a statement. “The testing being conducted for suspected COVID-19 patients shows that almost 100 per cent cases are of highly transmissible Delta variant. It spreads so fast and within no time it infects the whole family of one infected person. The hospitals in Karachi have now been filled to their capacity.”

Alarm bells have begun to ring across Pakistan with a staggering number of 3,752 more people testing positive for the deadly virus, along with rising deaths of 32 during the last 24 hours, the highest since May 21. The national COVID-19 positivity ratio during the past 24 hours boiled down to a whopping 7.51 per cent.

Dr Mutaqi also mentioned members of his fraternity and their families who were falling prey to the fourth wave of the pandemic appealing to the people to take care of themselves and their loved ones and get vaccinated at the earliest.

“In such a scenario, vaccine is one beacon of hope which everyone should get done at the earliest,” he said. “The hospitals can no longer sustain the pressure and that’s why they have suspended their regular operations including surgeries and treatment of patients at OPDS. We need to realise that everyone has to play his or her role while following SOPS, avoiding gathering and staying at home for the safety of ourselves and our loved ones.”

The Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) announced suspension of its key operations including OPDS and elective surgeries leaving thousands of regular patients in a quandary as the fate of their ongoing treatment at the largest public sector health facility in the province hangs in the balance.