ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) team along with assistant commissioners on Thursday sealed a number of private educational institutes as they were still operational.

Additionally, six people died of Covid-19 in Rawalpindi and Islamabad districts; 290 people were diagnosed with the disease on Thursday whereas 198 people were tested positive in Pindi district. However, the positivity ratio in Rawalpindi dropped to 9.6pc from 13.8pc recorded the day before while it stood at 6.3pc in Islamabad.

Officials of the capital administration said in response to a directive issued by NCOC, the capital administration on Sept 3, ordered closure of all education institutions from Sept 4 to 12.

The NCOC team, along with ACs concerned checked compliance of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in institutions located in several areas including G-15, G-11, H-8 and Bhara Kahu. Apart from sealing the schools, fines were imposed on the school managements for not abiding by clear instructions.

AC Shalimar sealed and imposed a fine on the owner of a welfare trust school where several SOPs were found being violated, administration officials said, adding the team also visited Bhara Kahu where several public and private schools were checked and sealed.

Majority of the educational institutions were strictly following SOPs as they were conducting online classes, the officials said.

Furthermore, two elderly patients (70-79) succumbed to Covid-19; both were residents of G-10 and G-8.

During the last 24 hours 4,560 tests were conducted in the capital.

Rawalpindi

As many as 201 people were discharged from hospitals after recovery during the last 24 hours. Out of the 2,050 samples collected, 198 people tested positive while 1,852 were declared Covid-19 free.

The deceased were identified as Abid Mehmood, 45, resident of Khas Rajar, who arrived at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) on Sept 7; Mohammad Shamim, 73, resident of Gulshanabad, brought to Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) on Sept 8; Noor Bano, 45, resident of Lane 6 Peshawar Road, who was shifted to Quaid-i-Azam International Hospital (QIH) on Sept 8 and Ahatasham Zia, 40, resident of Satellite Town, brought to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Sept 8.

In Rawalpindi district, there are 2,273 active patients. As many as 201 patients are in hospitals including 80 who arrived from other districts and 2,072 are home isolated.

As many as 57 patients are from cantonment areas, 48 arrived from city areas and 47 patients from Potohar Town. As many as six patients arrived from Kallar Syedan, two from Kotli Sattian, five from Murree, 14 from Kahuta, seven from Gujar Khan and four from Taxila. Three patients arrived from Islamabad, two from Attock and one each from D.I. Khan and Sargodha.

There are 201 patients admitted in city hospitals including 33 who were admitted in Holy Family Hospital, 48 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), 76 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), three patients in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, 32 in Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH), four patients in Bilal Hospital, three in Hearts International Hospital and two in Attock Hospital.

There are nine patients on ventilators in Rawalpindi, 89 are on oxygen support and 103 are stable.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2021