Seven die as dengue grips Karachi

• Disease started spreading after cataclysmic floods.
• Death toll from floods reaches 638 in Sindh.
• Climate minister Sherry Rehman says dengue to spread.

KARACHI: The deadly dengue virus has killed at least seven people in the metropolis, Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon said Tuesday.

Despite rescue operations underway in flood-hit areas, there are many locations where people are still trapped in water and suffering from dengue and other vector-borne and water diseases.

Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman had earlier indicated at least a 50% surge in the cases of dengue fever, especially in Karachi.

The federal minister said Karachi — where hundreds of dengue patients are being admitted to hospitals on a daily basis — is witnessing an "outbreak" of dengue.

Massive floods triggered by unprecedented monsoon rains and glacier melt have submerged a third of Pakistan while killing over 1,400 people and affecting the lives of 33 million since the month of June.

In Sindh alone, the death toll from the floods and rains has reached 638, Memon told a press conference today. Sindh remains the worst-hit province receiving 466% more rain than average in this year's monsoon.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the flood-affected regions last week and described the situation in Pakistan as an unimaginable “climate carnage.”

In an interview with Arab News, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah said that more than 12.5 million people have become homeless in Sindh — casting a spotlight on the magnitude of devastation caused by floods.

“We still have thousands of families who do not have tents and are living under the sky,” he told the publication. “I would like to appeal to all countries to send us tents on priority so we can at least provide a temporary shelter to the affected families.”

The misery of people isn't ending soon as the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast another spell of rains in Sindh in continuation of the existing monsoon season.

With more rains on the way, it is feared that no end is in sight for the misery of the victims in flood-hit areas of Sindh.