ISLAMABAD: The highest number of Covid-19 cases surfaced in the capital this year as 620 people were diagnosed with the disease on Friday.

Around six people also lost their lives to the disease in Rawalpindi district and no one was discharged from the garrison city hospitals after recovery.

Pervaiz Kayani, 71, resident of Kahuta was brought to Fauji Foundation Hospital on March 17 and he died on Friday. Asghar Hussain, 70, resident of Kallar Syedan died on Thursday night at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) where he was brought on March 18. Tariq Mehmood, 50, resident of Gujar Khan arrived at Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre on March 18 where he died on Thursday night. Yasmeen Akhter, 59, resident of Gujar Khan shifted to Fauji Foundation Hospital on March 16 but she succumbed to the infection on Friday. Khan Nawab, 63, resident of Muhallah Qaziabad shifted to Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre on March 18 where he lost battle against the disease and Abdul Ghafoor, 53 shifted to Fauji Foundation Hospital on March 18 where he died on Friday morning.

District Health Officer Islamabad Dr Zaeem Zia told Dawn that on Friday 620 cases were reported with a positivity rate of 8.5pc in the capital. Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat posted on his Twitter account that 747 positive cases were traced in the capital on Friday.

This positivity rate is the highest to have ever been reported and number of cases on a single day is the second highest to have been traced in the capital since the outbreak of Covid-19, he added.

An advisory is also being issued to all hospitals of the capital to make necessary arrangements, Dr Zia said, adding patients will most likely rapidly increase in hospitals in the coming days.

Six fall prey to virus in Rawalpindi

“We are facing the worst situation regarding Covid-19, which will further deteriorate in the coming days,” he added.

Officials of the capital administration said 609 beds were allocated in 15 different hospitals and 97 ventilators in 14 hospitals, they said, adding 292 beds and 41 ventilators are currently occupied at these hospitals.

Occupancy rates of beds and ventilators are 47.9pc and 42.2pc, respectively.

Meanwhile, there are currently 1,251 active patients in Rawalpindi district and 370 patients are in hospitals including 69 who belong to other districts. Around 861 patients are isolated in their homes whereas 538 are waiting for the results of their coronavirus serology.

Most of the newly detected patients were brought from the garrison city: 20 are from cantonment, 20 from Potohar Town and 54 from Rawal Town. Eight patients are from Taxila, six from Gujar Khan, five from Murree while one patient each arrived from Kahuta and Kallar Syedan. Five patients arrived from Islamabad and one patient each from Buneer and Gujrat.

As many as 20 patients were admitted in Holy Family Hospital (HFH), 32 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), 72 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), 31 in Fauji Foundation Hospital, one in Hearts International Hospital and three patients in Red Crescent Corona Care Hospital.

Around 15 patients are on ventilators, 63 are on oxygen support and 81 are stable.

Attock

The highest number of Covid-19 cases since Jan 1 were reported in Attock district on Friday as 12 more people tested positive for the disease and three people lost their lives, according to data revealed by the district health authorities.

All three deceased were female patients aged 50, 65 and 71. District Focal Person for Covid-19 Kashif Hussain said among the newly detected patients, nine belong to Attock city and three belong to Hazro.

The number of active patients in the district is 70, out of whom 68 are home isolated while two others are hospitalised. He said one suspected patient is also admitted in District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital. The number of suspected patients in the district rose to 27,060 while screening of 30,312 people was carried out across the district out of which 25,406 were tested negative. Responding to a question, he said the results of 279 suspected patients are awaited and so far 1,276 people have recovered from the virus in the district so far.

Meanwhile, a team of local administration led by Assistant Commissioner Ijaz Abdul Kareem along with officials from the health department sealed Fauji Foundation School Jand after one of the staff members of the school developed symptoms of Covid-19. Disinfectant was sprayed inside the school and sampling of students and staff was carried. The school was sealed for 14 days to avert possible spread of the virus among teachers and students.

It may be mentioned here that it is the second school of the area and third school of the district which was sealed after teachers were found infected. — Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2021