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Dr Abdul Qadir Soomro, 64, who tested positive for Covid-19, at the start of last week, lost his battle against the disease on Monday.
Dr. Soomro was put on the ventilator a few days ago after his condition worsened; on Monday, he succumbed to the disease at Karachi’s Indus Hospital. He is the first health care worker to lose his life to coronavirus in Sindh.
Where did Dr. Soomro contract the virus?
Dr. Soomro’s colleges and family are uncertain about his exposure to the virus. Dr. Soomro, a skin specialist, was in direct contact with patients a day before he fell ill but his colleagues doubt that he contracted the virus while treating patients at Gulshan-i-Hadeed, where 3 patients tested positive. Dr. Soomro was a former medical officer of the Pakistan Steel Mills and the former president of the Sindh chapter of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) More than a dozen doctors and health care professionals have tested positive for Covid-19 in Sindh.
What is Sindh’s Health Department saying?
Sindh’s Health Department has placed a ban on conducting OPDs at all hospitals and clinics in the Malir district, after Dr. Soomro and three other doctors tested positive for the virus. Currently, due to an extreme shortage of Personal Protective Equipment, it is only being provided to staff at isolation centres and the emergency departments of hospitals.