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30 March, 2020
By SJA Jafri + Agencie + Int’l Monitoring Desk + Bureau Reports
KARACHI/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON/ NEW YTORK: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 1,670 on Monday after new cases were reported across the country.
The province-wise breakup of the total number of cases as of 12:21pm, March 30, is as follows:
Total confirmed cases: 1,670 (Sindh: 508, Punjab: 638, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 195, Balochistan: 144, Islamabad Capital Territory: 51, Gilgit-Baltistan: 128, AJK: 6) while total 19 deaths have been recorded nationwide.
More than 30,000 deaths have been recorded globally, of which most have been in Europe since the virus first emerged in December.
More than 662,000 COVID-19 cases have been registered in 200 countries and territories of which a majority has been in Europe, the worst-hit continent by the virus.
This correspondent is constantly gathering fresh information from concerned authorities and striving to keep all respected readers up to date with the most accurate information available.
Mortuaries across the city were closed on Sunday after it was suspected that two bodies brought to an Edhi morgue were of people who had died from the coronavirus.
“The morgues have been closed over fears that the coronavirus will spread from them,” said a city administration official.
A representative of the Edhi Home office located at Sohrab Goth spoke to PMI and confirmed that orders of coffins and caskets had been suspended.
Ramzan Chhipa said that his organisation had closed its mortuaries temporarily in accordance with the safety precautions against the coronavirus.
“We don’t want the virus to be transmitted to a volunteer and from him, to spread to the rest of the city,” he said.
The closing of mortuaries across the city has caused further problems for the people of Karachi. The coronavirus and Sindh government’s lockdown has already made life difficult for denizens. Grave-diggers have also disappeared from graveyards owing to the pandemic and the lockdown.
Grave-diggers have expressed the fear of the virus being transmitted to them. “The problem of grave-diggers not being found these days is a problem,” admitted the director of graveyards.
On the other hands, citizens have complained of not finding a grave to bury their loved ones owing to the pandemic.
Trump extends US guidelines beyond Easter
President Donald Trump has said federal coronavirus guidelines such as social distancing will be extended across the US until at least 30 April.
He had previously suggested that they could be relaxed as early as faster, which falls in mid-April.
“The highest point of the death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” Trump said.
He appeared to be referring to peak infection rates that experts fear could overwhelm hospitals.
White House medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci had earlier warned that the virus could kill up to 200,000 Americans.
Dr Fauci said that it was “entirely conceivable” that millions of Americans could eventually be infected.
The US now has more than 140,000 confirmed cases.
As of Sunday evening, 2,493 deaths had been recorded in the country in relation to Covid-19, according to figures collated by Johns Hopkins University.
The US last week became the country with the most reported cases, ahead of Italy and China.
What did Trump say?
Speaking during the latest Coronavirus Task Force press briefing at the White House on Sunday, the president said that measures such as social distancing were “the way you win”, adding that the US “will be well on our way to recovery” by June.
Suggesting that the “peak” of death rates in the US was likely to hit in two weeks, Mr Trump said that “nothing would be worse than declaring victory before victory is won – that would be the greatest loss of all”.
Analysts suggest that when Trump referred to a peak in the “death rate”, he probably meant the total number of recorded infections.
He said the decision to extend social distancing was made after he heard that “2.2 million people could have died if we didn’t go through with all of this”, adding that if the death toll could be restricted to less than 100,000 “we all together have done a very good job”.
Trump had previously said that Easter – 10-13 April – would be a “beautiful time” to be able to open at least some sections of the country. On Sunday he said that lifting restrictions at Easter was “just an aspiration”.
“I wish we could have our old life back… but we’re working very hard, that’s all I know. I see things, I see numbers, and they don’t matter to me. What matters to me is that we have a victory over this thing as soon as possible,” he said.
The president also talked on Sunday about the medical response. He said that “rapid testing” had been approved to get Covid-19 results within five minutes, and those doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers would be tested.
What’s the situation in the US?
Nationwide measures mean citizens must continue to avoid non-essential travel, going to work, and eating at restaurants or bars. Gatherings are limited to groups of under 10 people but stricter restrictions apply to millions in some of the worst-hit states.
On Saturday residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were instructed not to travel elsewhere within the country for 14 days.
Non-essential gatherings in New York City are banned and most businesses are closed as the city faces more than 33,000 cases. Police can issue fines of $250-500 (£200-£400). In California, a “shelter in place” order remains.
