RECORDER REPORT
KARACHI: The Sindh government has placed a ban on Taravih during the month of Ramazan.
In his video message, the Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, said that he had discussed the issue with President Dr Arif Alvi and with his consent, the Sindh government has taken this step to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
He requested the religious leaders and Ulema to support the decision of the Sindh government.
He said that the next 15 days were very critical in this regard, and doctors had also advised him to put a ban on large congregations in mosques.
The Sindh Chief Minister further said that with the death of two more people after contracting the coronavirus, the death toll from the infection in the province has risen to 75 while 49 patients are in a critical condition.
He said that with two more deaths on Friday, the number of lives claimed by the virus has reached 75.
“Forty-nine patients are in a critical condition, and 15 of them have been put on ventilators,” he said.
He added that 274 new cases were detected in the province on Friday when 2,561 tests were conducted.
“This is the situation against which we are struggling to slow down the spread of the virus,” Shah said.
He said that out of the 274 new patients 202 belonged to Karachi and 71 to other districts.
The number of the coronavirus patients in Karachi had risen to 2,285, the chief minister said.
“At present, District Central has 28 cases, East 553, Malir 255, South 736 and West 277,” he said. The chief minister said that 42 patients had recovered and sent back to their homes.
“The number of the patients who have recovered from the infection is 772 or 20 percent of the total number of patients,” he said. Stranded Pakistanis: The chief minister said that six different flights had flown back 849 stranded Pakistanis. All of them were administered the tests, and 127 of them tested positive. Tablighi Jamaat: Shah said that there were 5,102 members of the Tablighi Jamaat. All of them were tested, and 765 of them were diagnosed as positive while the results of four people were pending. The members of the Tablighi Jamaat who had been tested negative were being sent back to their homes.
The chief minister said that after Karachi, Sukkur had registered the highest number of cases of local transmission with 14 new cases. “The data of other districts is Umerkot one, Tando Allahyar one, Sanghar one, Kambar-Shahdadkot one and Badin one.”
Difficult decisions: Murad Ali Shah said that being the chief executive of the province he had taken some difficult decisions in the supreme interest of the people of the province.
“I have announced strict lockdowns from 12 noon to 3pm and decided to advise the people to offer Taraweeh at their homes,” he said.
INP adds: A complete lockdown will be imposed across Sindh after 5pm during Ramazan, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Friday.
Businesses will be allowed to continue providing their services online from Monday to Thursday, 9am to 3pm. Bakeries will remain open till 5pm.
Only food delivery services have been exempted from the order and will be allowed to operate until 10pm.
Shops and delivery services shall remain closed during Sehri, and people will not be allowed to leave their houses.
Meanwhile, the decision has been called “unfair” by traders in Karachi. They have said that a meeting of traders will be called in a few days and amendments will be suggested to the government. The government decision was taken after the number of coronavirus cases in the province spiked.
