Federal Government Decides To Increase Critical Care Capacity As Delta Spreads In Karachi

On Friday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), has stated that it will be increasing the critical care capacity in the City of Lights as the highly infectious Delta variant is continuing to spread quickly. 

The command center took to the micro-blogging website, Twitter, to assert that it had critically reviewed the worsening conditions of the coronavirus in Karachi. Consequently, it had made the decision to provide assistance to the government of Sindh, as much as possible. 

It further went on to reveal that the NCOC itself will be ramping up critical care capacity in the hospitals across the city. This means that it will be ensuring the availability of oxygenated vents and beds. 

In addition, the federal government will be providing the provincial government with assistance by deploying law enforcement agencies for the successful implementation and enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs), as well as non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). 

While at a press conference just a day earlier, the chief of NCOC, Asad Umar, had laid emphasis on how serious the situation in Sindh is, due to the rapid spread of the deadly disease in the province. He added that the rate of compliance with SOPs was the lowest in Sindh, at 33%. 

Dr. Faisal Sultan, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, informed that hospitals across the City of Lights were under a lot of burdens. He noted that the positivity rate in Pakistan was currently standing at 7.5%. As of now, 50% of the critical patients in hospitals have been admitted to the severity of their conditions, after contracting the coronavirus. 

Umar further reiterated that it was not viable for the country to shut down cities time and time again. He added that it was not an appropriate measure in the long term and stressed upon the need to comply with the government outlined SOPs. According to the minister, a decrease in numbers leads to an ease in restrictions, which in turn causes the people of the country to become careless. However, he pointed out that the actions of the citizens are directly related to the spread of the deadly disease. 

The federal minister claimed that the only way to safely make it out of this pandemic was to get vaccinated. He warned that the rise in the rate of positivity could overwhelm the healthcare system and skyrocket the demand for oxygen.