Pakistan’s Sindh province is grappling with a severe heatwave, pushing temperatures past 45 degrees Celsius and overwhelming hospitals with heat-related illnesses, highlighting the urgent public health crisis.
Key Points
- Sindh Province, Pakistan, is enduring extreme temperatures, with Jacobabad reaching 50 degrees Celsius.
- Karachi’s ‘feels-like’ temperature soared to 54 degrees Celsius due to high humidity despite actual temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius.
- Hospitals in Karachi and other parts of Sindh are experiencing an influx of patients with heat-related illnesses.
- Medical staff are working continuously to manage the emergency situation caused by the severe heatwave.
Multiple locations across Sindh province in Pakistan are witnessing soaring temperatures beyond 45 degrees Celsius coupled with increased humidity, officials said Thursday, adding the common people are falling ill and crowding hospitals due to heat-related illnesses.
Jacobabad clocked 50 degrees Celsius on Thursday afternoon, it was 49 degrees Celsius in Dadu, followed by Sukkur (47 degrees Celsius), and Mohenjodaro, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Rohri, Khairpur and Sakrand, all above 45 degrees Celsius, said Sarfaraz Khan, chief meteorologist at the Pakistan Meteorology Department (PMD).
This is not the first time that Jacobabad is witnessing such high temperatures; in May too, mercury had touched 50 degrees Celsius more than a couple of times.
Extreme Heatwave Grips Sindh Province
Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, also sweltered with temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius but the increased humidity meant that the feels-like temperature was around 50, the Meteorological Department said.
On Wednesday, the feels-like temperature was recorded around 54 degrees Celsius between 1 and 3 pm, according to the Met office data.
The feels-like temperature gradually soared from 49 degrees Celsius at around 1 pm to 54 degrees Celsius at 3 pm, the data showed, adding, the relative humidity was 79 per cent and 65 per cent in the morning and evening, respectively.
There should be some relief from Friday, Khan said.
Hospitals Overwhelmed By Heat-Related Illnesses
Meanwhile, government hospitals in Pakistan’s biggest city, Karachi, were overloaded with patients coming in with heat-related illnesses as temperatures soared in the city and other parts of the Sindh province.
Dr Syed Khalid Bukhari, the Medical Superintendent at the Civil Hospital in Karachi, said that since Wednesday, the health facility has been getting a lot of patients with heat-related illnesses.
“Our staff is working round the clock because of the emergency situation. Thankfully most of them are discharged after preliminary treatment,” he said.
Manning the emergency ward at the Jinnah Hospital on Thursday, Dr Naufar Abbas said most of the patients had come in because of the extreme weather.
“In such high temperatures and humidity, it is common for people to fall ill if they are not in a safe environment,” Abbas added.
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