The Metrological Department has announced that the hot and dry weather will likely linger for the rest of the week, issuing a public advisory for a heat spell.
However, it’s not just Karachi that is experiencing unprecedented levels of heat early into summers this year, but rather much of the Sindh province.
While the mercury has already started crossing the 40°C mark in most places, the people have reportedly been feeling hotter than the recorded temperature.
Per Karachi University Institute of Space and Technology’s representative Dr Naeem Sadiq, this is because the international standards for measuring the effects of heat on the human body suggest that the temperature felt by the human body – called the Feels Like temperature – can surge to upwards of 44°C during the months of May and June in Karachi.
In the recent past, some areas of Sindh have also recorded the heat index and effects of heat on human skin to be equivalent to 54°C.
Following the meteorological department’s alert that hinted at a possible heatwave on the horizon, the provincial health department has declared an emergency in all public hospitals, cancelling employees’ petitions for leaves.
In addition to that, the Sindh Health Services’ Director-General has also directed to ensure access to various facilities including 24-hour emergency services and ambulances in government hospitals across Sindh.
However, per Jinnah Hospital’s former Executive Director Dr Seemi Jamali, while the government’s doing the most it can, heatstroke has a severe mortality rate and death is inevitable.
“It is possible to treat a patient with heat absorption, but once a person has a heatstroke, the affected person barely has a chance of survival.”
