KARACHI: Fearing a spike in the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic, authorities in Pakistan’s commercial hub, Karachi, have reserved five cemeteries for the victims of the virus, officials told Arab News on Wednesday.

“Today 45 new cases of local transmission have been reported in Karachi, which has taken the total number of patients in the province of Sindh to 627,” Meeran Yousuf, spokesperson for the health department, told Arab News, adding that COVID-19 had affected 294 people in Karachi alone and a majority of them had contracted the infection locally.

So far, health officials in Sindh have confirmed eight virus-related deaths in the province.

The places reserved for the burial of coronavirus victims are: Muhammad Shah, Surjani, Mawach Goth, Qur’angi No. 6 and Gulshan-e-Zia graveyards.

“To cope with the situation, we have reserved five graveyards for the burial of coronavirus victims,” Wasim Akhter, mayor of Karachi, told Arab News, adding that the designated graveyards had the capacity of 1,000 to 5,000 graves.

However, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s director graveyards, Iqbal Pervez, said that the designated cemeteries were already full and their capacity was being enhanced.

Karachi has 203 graveyards, and many of them have run out of space, he informed, adding: “We are trying prepare ourselves for a situation where we may have to accommodate a large number of coronavirus victims by negotiating with private housing societies and requesting them to add some of their reserved lands to these graveyards.”

Karachi is a metropolis of 15 million people, though the figure was disputed by various stakeholders after the 2017 census who claimed it was deliberately under-reported and could be as high as 23 million.

The city reported the first coronavirus case of the country in the last week of February and is now reporting the largest number of cases of local transmission.

Karachi is also called the country’s economic engine and is currently under lockdown.