Coronavirus: Karachi Expo Center to be Converted into 10,000 Bed Hospital

In order to expand the medical facilities in the province, Sindh Government has now announced to convert Karachi Expo Center into a 10,000-bed isolation hospital for the patients of Coronavirus. The province, already hosting over 150 confirmed patients who arrived from Taftan in Sukkur, has the highest number of confirmed cases of the virus with 211 out of the 307 in Pakistan.

The decision came on the back of rapidly growing need to facilitate the pilgrims in Taftan out of which 696 are expected to reach Sindh in the next few days. Similar isolation facilities will also be set up in Nooriabad, Kotri, Hyderabad and Shaheed Benazirabad.

“We need to prevent the spread,” said Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah at the daily-meeting of Sindh Task Force to curb the virus.

In the first stage of the project, one hall of the Expo Center will be converted into a hospital. Later on, other halls will be utilized for the purpose. The hospital’s paramedic staff, doctors, beds, medicines, and necessary equipment has already been made available.

Read more: 3 more coronavirus cases reported in Karachi, tally hits 211 in Sindh

CM Sindh also announced that 16,000 swabs/VTMs and 13,000 kits are available to test coronavirus in Sindh. However the province – which now has 41 locally transmitted cases – has to enhance its testing capacity which is currently 600.

Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shahalwani has been assigned the task of coordinating with the Federal Government and Army Corps who are both on board of the project to convert the exhibition center into a hospital.

“The federal government has agreed in principle,” said Shahalwani while talking to Express Tribune.