Sindh faces a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and coronavirus testing kits, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday during a meeting he participated in via video link.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah's remarks came as Sindh recorded three more deaths — two in Karachi and one in Hyderabad — from COVID-19, raising the province's total to 14.
The testing kits provided by the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) had "accuracy issues", which was why Sindh had opted not to use them, Shah added. He added that the medical professionals working at the isolation centres and hospitals had to wear PPEs to avoid the risk of infection.
The CM requested the federal government to provide additional PPEs and testing kits as "the PPEs available with the provincial government were running out".
When Sindh PDMA Director-General Syed Salman Shah commented that he had sent PPEs to the province and if the testing kits had been used, he could arrange more, the chief minister said the experts working with provincial government had pointed out they had some accuracy issues and, therefore, they were not being used.
PM Imran then directed PDMA to coordinate with the Sindh government and resolve the issue.
Murad Ali Shah also expressed concern over the growing number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Sindh, noting that an 87-fold increase was recorded in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 over the past 15 days, which was "alarming".
The pandemic needs more focused and collective efforts to control the situation," he stressed, mentioning that as of April 3 afternoon, some 783 cases had been reported. The federal and the provincial governments should take necessary measures to contain the virus, he emphasised.
