ISLAMABAD: As seven more people lost their struggle against Covid-19 on Sunday, the capital administration has advised coronavirus patients to seek medical help and avoid self treatment at home.

“It has been observed that Covid-19 patients who were in very critical state were being brought to hospitals as majority preferred to isolate themselves in their homes and use oxygen cylinders, District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia told Dawn.

He suggested that families should constantly observe their patients, and in case of any issue, contact a physician. “Though it is good to arrange oxygen at home and limit patients’ movement, we suggest that in case there is any health-related issue, a physician should be called to check the patient. Unfortunately we have been seeing that severely-critical patients were being brought to hospitals, making it very difficult for the medical staff to save them,” the health officer said.

He said people should not try to treat their patients themselves, advising that a doctor should be contacted if a patient started experiencing shortness of breath.

Health officer says hospitals receiving critical patients; twin cities report seven deaths

“We advise that one must consult a doctor prior to going into isolation at home despite having arrangement of oxygen. Visit a hospital in case your symptoms worsen. At the moment, we are receiving patients in critical condition as they remain at home and do not seek medical help,” he added.

Meanwhile, Islamabad recorded three deaths and 126 more cases on Sunday.

Dr Zia said 4,043 tests were conducted on Saturday out of which 126 returned positive, which showed a positivity ratio of 3.3pc. He also confirmed the death of three Covid-19 patients.

“The good thing is that the number of daily cases is continuously falling in the federal capital,” he said.

Rawalpindi

Four patients succumbed to Covid-19 and 53 more contracted the virus on Sunday as no patient was reported to have been discharged from hospital.

A woman named Taj Begum, 55, was brought to Rawalpindi Institute of Urology from Kahuta on Dec 20 where she remained under treatment but could not survive and died on Sunday.

Abdul Hameed, 86, a resident of Qazian, Gujar Khan, was being treated at Fauji Foundation Hospital since Dec 18 but lost his struggle against the virus late Saturday night.

Rashim Jan, 64, from New Lalazar, arrived at Max Hospital on Jan 2 where she succumbed to the deadly virus late Saturday night. Shagufta Bibi, 61, from Chaklala, died at Pims where she was admitted on Jan 2.

According to statistics, the district has 942 active patients with 365 in hospitals and 577 home isolated. As many as 419 patients are waiting for their results for the last three days.

Rawalpindi district has reported 12,951 confirmed patients since March out of whom 1,046 were from outside the district. As many as 11,457 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering while 552 passed away.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that the number of serious patients was gradually increasing as five were on ventilators, 72 required oxygen and 10 were being kept in room temperature.

He said the district administrations were working on creating awareness among people to adopt standard operating procedures.

The commissioner said the death rate was still high in Rawalpindi district while the other three districts had not reported any death in the last three days, adding that there was still a need to follow health guidelines in bazaars and public places.

Mr Mehmood said 15,599 people have been infected in the division with 12,951 in Rawalpindi, 1,083 in Attock, 1,055 in Jhelum and 510 in Chakwal, adding that 13,675 patients have so far recovered and 660 lost their lives.

Attock

The district witnessed the highest spike of coronavirus cases since the year started as 11 people were found having the virus on Sunday. The tally of confirmed cases in the district has surged to 1,083.

According to health authorities, the figure was the highest one day tally of positive cases since the new year started.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Dr Jawad Elahi said seven patients belonged to Attock city while four were from Jand, adding that the number of active cases had risen to 126.

Responding to a question, Mr Elahi said the number of suspected cases in the district was 22,050 while screening of 25,351 people had so far been carried out.

He said the result of 274 suspected patients was still awaited while 20,693 had tested negative across the district.

The health official said so far 930 patients had recovered from the virus in the district.— Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2021