RAWALPINDI: As many as 23 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Rawalpindi district while seven confirmed patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering.

The number of confirmed patients in Rawalpindi reached 572 while 30 people died and 167 patients discharged after recovery.At present, 375 confirmed patients are under treatment in hospitals and 93 quarantined in their houses.

Apart from this, 226 suspected patients were brought to the three hospitals of Rawalpindi and their samples were sent to National Institute of Health (NIH) for Covid-19 serology.

A senior doctor of Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) told Dawn that results of Covid-19 test were received from the NIH after three to four days. If a patient tests positive, they are shifted to the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) from the BBH.

Commissioner says district administrations asked not to allow people to go to parks, public places

He said there was no facility of testing in Rawalpindi, adding the government had planned to establish a laboratory in Rawalpindi but made no progress on it.

Meanwhile, the local administrations have kept 1,260 people on quarantines who had been in close contacts with the confirmed patients. As many as 1,134 have been isolated in their houses, 111 in hospitals and 15 in quarantine centres.

Tableeghi Jamaat’s 160 members are also isolated in their houses in Rawalpindi.

According to official data, the new patients arrived in hospitals from Dheri Hassanabad, Dhoke Paracha, Gulraiz Colony, Satellite Town, Amarpura, Tali Mohri, Dhoke Mangtal, Workshopi Mohallah, Badar Colony, Dhoke Ratta, Banni, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, Raja Zafarul Haq Road, Bakra Mandi, Dhoke Gangal, Babu Lal Hussain Road and Asghar Mall.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that the provincial government had made arrangements to accommodate more than 5,000 patients on quarantines and in this regard 46 facilities had already been established.

He said the facilities were developed in the districts of Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal. He said there were sufficient personal protection equipment in Rawalpindi division and doctors and paramedical staff had been provided the kits.

He said Covid-19 may spread in cities through markets and public places so the district administrations had been asked not to allow people to go to parks and other public places.

He said special permission had been granted to philanthropists to distribute Iftar-dinner packs among deserving people while maintaining social distance. He said labourers and daily wagers were already being provided cash through the Ehsaas cash programme by the federal government.

He said during the last one month 572 Covid-19 cases were reported in Rawalpindi district while 47 confirmed cases were recorded in Attock, 126 in Jhelum and 10 in Chakwal.

He said so far 35 deaths had been reported in Rawalpindi division, including 30 in Rawalpindi, two in attock and three in Jhelum.

He said 167 patients recovered from the disease in the Rawalpindi district, 15 in Attock, 105 in Jhelum and seven in Chakwal.

Taxila

Four people, including a lady doctor from Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital, tested positive in Taxila during the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 33 patients.

According to Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Faheem, the lady doctor was deputed in OPD where she was tested after developing symptoms of Covid-19. She was admitted to the same medical facility.

“The other three are cases of local transmission and none of their family members had contracted the virus, earlier,” he added.

He said all four people were admitted to THQ Hospital Taxila. According to health department officials, out of the33 confirmed patients in Taxila, eightbelong to Wah and five are from Gari Afghanan Village. The rest belong to different areas of the tehsil.

Meanwhile, THQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Mubashir said two suspected patients were reported in the hospital and are being tested.

Attock

Four new cases of Covid-19 surfaced during the last 24 hours in Attock, taking the tally to 47 in the district on Friday.

Attock’s focal person for Covid-19 Dr Asif Arbab Niazi on Friday confirmed that there was uninterrupted increase in positive cases as four new cases were reported.

He said: “Among the new cases, three belongto Fatehjang, who were in close contact with family members of a man who tested positive and was admitted to a public hospital in Islamabad. The fourth is from Fatehjang’s union council Shahray Saadullah who had travelled to Italy.”

He confirmed that suspected cases also rose to 829 in the district. So far screening of 3,076 people had been carried out in the district, from which 702 tested negative while results of 80 have not been received, he said, adding that two Tableeghi Jamaat members and an Iran-returned pilgrim are under isolation. — Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2020