ISLAMABAD: As many as 13 patients lost their struggle against Covid-19 on Wednesday as another 673 people contracted the virus in the twin cities.

In Islamabad, four succumbed to the virus whereas 375 tested positive.

Officials of the capital administration said two females in the 50-59 age group while a male and another female patient in the 70-79 and 30-39 age brackets, respectively, breathed their last. They were residents of G-11, G-9, G-7 and Sohan.

During the last 24 hours, 4,388 tests were conducted in the capital, showing a positivity rate of 8.5pc.

Death toll from the disease since the beginning of the pandemic reached 649, the officials said, adding that there were 12,704 active cases in Islamabad at present.

13 fall victim to virus, 673 more cases detected

According to the breakdown, Lohi Bher had the highest number of patients at 947, followed by 718 in Tarlai, 689 in Bhara Kahu, 558 in G-6, 437 in G-10, 419 in I-8, 403 in G-11, 396 in G-9, 394 in G-7, 373 in Rawat, 353 in E-11, 347 in G-8, 324 in I-10, 309 in Sohan, 301 in Chak Shahzad, 292 in F-11, 288 in G-13, 265 in Khanna, 254 in F-10, 240 in F-8, 217 in F-6, 209 in Alipur and 203 in Kurri.

Likewise, I-9 has 164 active cases, 157 in F-7, 131 in Koral, 127 in Chirrah, 105 in Kirpa, 90 in G-5, 88 in Sihala, 83 in G-15, 76 in Rawal Town, 68 in Bari Imam, 64 in Model Town Humak, 62 in G-14, 58 in E-7, 55 in D-12, 44 in F-5, 43 in Tarnol, 42 in B-17, 35 in H-12, 34 in Pind Begwal, 33 in Shah Allahdita, 31 in H-13, 30 in I-14, 29 in D-17, 28 in G-8, 26 in Jhangi Syedan, 25 each in G-12 and Saidpur, the officials said.

Besides, there are 31 other areas where there are active cases.

Rawalpindi

Nine people died of Covid-19 in the district on Wednesday while 298 patients contracted the deadly virus.

Shazia Kamal, 48, a resident of Gawalmandi, died at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) on Wednesday where she was admitted on April 12.

Neelam Mazafar, 50, from Chamanzar Colony, succumbed to the virus on Wednesday at RIU where she was brought on April 14.

Mohammad Ikhlaq, 70, a resident of Kallar Syedan, arrived at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on April 20 where he died late Tuesday night.

Khursheed Begum, 73, from Satellite Town, died at Max Health Hospital where she was admitted on April 20. Khalid Mehmood Mirza, 70, resident of Gujar Khan, was under treatment at Hearts International Hospital but could not survive and died on Wednesday.

Khawaja Mehmood Mehdi, 85, resident of New Lalazar, died on Wednesday at Hearts International Hospital where he was brought on April 20.

Nagina Bibi, 59, resident of Gujar Khan, was also brought to Hearts International Hospital on April 20 where she died on Wednesday.

Nargis Bibi, 73, from the city areas, arrived at Holy Family Hospital on April 20 and died on Wednesday.

Raheem Jan, 60, resident of Fauji Colony, was brought to Holy Family Hospital on April 20 but succumbed to the virus on Wednesday.

There are 2,501 active patients in the district out of which 473 are in hospitals. As many as 2,028 patients are isolated in their homes whereas 659 patients are waiting for the results of their coronavirus serology.

Most of the newly-detected patients were brought from the garrison city. As many as 60 patients are from the cantonment areas, 80 from Potohar Town and 70 from Rawal Town.

As many as 23 patients are from Taxila, 12 arrived from Gujar Khan, 11 from Murree, 12 from Kallar Syedan, 13 from Kahuta and four from Kotli Sattian. Four patients arrived from Islamabad, three from Attock and one each from KP, Azad Kashmir, Chakwal, Haripur and Sargodha.

As many as 41 patients were admitted to Holy Family Hospital, 27 were being treated at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, two in District Headquarters Hospital, 130 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, 24 in Fauji Foundation Hospital and three in Hearts International Hospital.

There were 37 patients on ventilators in Rawalpindi, 124 on oxygen support while 66 are stable.

Attock

Three people succumbed to the virus in Attock, health officials said.

According to official sources, the deceased were identified as 53-year-old Rukhsana Bibi, 75-year-old Manzoor Ellahi and 65-year-old Mareena Jan.

District Focal Person for Covid-19 Kashif Hussain said after detection of virus among more persons, the number of cases reported in the district since the beginning of the pandemic surged to 1,826. The number of active patients in the district is 269, out of whom 262 are home isolated while seven are hospitalised.

Giving details about active patients in different parts of the district, Mr Hussain said in Attock city there were 124 positive patients, 59 in Hazro, 40 in Pindigheb, 29 in Jand, 10 in Hassanabdal while seven are in Fatehjang.

As many as seven suspected patients are also admitted to DHQ Hospital and all are in critical condition. The number of suspected patients in the district has risen to 31,562 while screening of 34,814 people was carried out across the district out of which 28,782 tested negative. Responding to a question, he said the results of 954 suspected patients were awaited.

So far 1,522 people have recovered from the virus in the district and safe burials of 109 patients carried out.

Moreover, district education authorities, in a letter, warned school heads across the district that teachers as well as students with Covid-19 symptoms had been attending school. Any teacher or student with symptoms will face disciplinary action, the letter stated.— Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2021