ISLAMABAD: A slight increase was seen in the number of Covid-19 cases in the capital on Thursday. Besides, six people died of the virus in the city.

Officials of the capital administration said the death of two female patients was reported in the age group of 50-59 and one male each in the age group of 60-69 and 90-99.

Deaths of a male and a female were also reported in the age group of 70-79. They were residents of Tarlai, G-9, E-11, Sohan, Alipur and I-9.

On Thursday, 575 more cases were reported in capital. The increase was seen after a gap of four days.

There were 798, 680, 603 and 508 cases on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

During the last 24 hours, 6,178 tests were conducted and the positivity rate was 9.3 per cent.

The occupancy rate of beds is 62.99pc. There are 808 beds allocated in 15 hospitals for Covid-19 patients and 509 are occupied.

Likewise, the occupancy rate for ventilators is 50.89pc as out of the total 112 ventilators 57 are occupied.

The capital has 12,839 active cases. So far, 625 patients have died in the pandemic.

Rawalpindi

The number of patients slightly reduced in Rawalpindi a day after the district witnessed the highest ever cases.

On Thursday, 159 patients tested positive while one patient died and no patient was discharged from hospitals.

On the other hand, the district administration imposed a smart lockdown at Lane No 5 on Peshawar Road till April 25 as four patients reported from the street in a day.

A smart lockdown has already been imposed in Muslim Town Street No 28, Mohallah Khardian Gujar Khan, Mohallah Abdul Ghani street Tench Bhatta, Maira Shams Gujar Khan, Lane 5 Lalazar and Hashmi Colony Wah Cantonment.

Zamrud Begum, 65, resident of Mandhal, was brought to Fauji Foundation Hospital on April 14 where she died.

Total 107 patients were reported from the garrison city, including 39 from the cantonment, 36 from Potohar Town and 32 from Rawal Town.

Moreover, four patients came from Gujar Khan, seven from Taxila, five from Murree, seven from Kallar Syedan, 19 from Kahuta, four from Islamabad, two from Chakwal and one each from Attock, Kohat, Swabi and Sialkot.

There are 2,805 active patients in the district - 413 in hospitals and 2,392 in home isolation. Besides, 640 patients are waiting for the results of their Covid-19 serology.

Officials said 26 of the new patients were admitted in Holy Family Hospital, 28 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), two in District Headquarters Hospital, 130 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), 22 in Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) and three in Hearts International Hospital.

There are 38 patients on ventilators, 117 on oxygen and 56 are stable.

Meanwhile, no standard operating procedures were adopted in the city bazaars and markets as people continued visiting shopping malls and bazaars without wearing facemasks. Shopkeepers also did not maintain social distancing in the Moti Bazaar, Narankari Bazaar and adjoining bazaars.

Taxila

At least 46 people tested positive in Taxila on Thursday.

According to health officials, this was the highest single day spike since March 2020 when the first case was reported in the city.

The tally of the cases surged in the city to 1,388. Officials said among the new cases, 10 belonged to Ward 8, 7 to ward 7 and five to Ward 5 of Wah Cantt while nine to different rural areas of Taxila.

As many as 271 of the patients are home isolated. So far, 26 people have succumbed to the virus and 902 patients have recovered from the disease.

Moreover, 54 patients from Taxila and one from Attock are admitted at different hospitals of Rawalpindi.

Attock

Attock district reported 14 new cases during the last 24 hours raising the tally to 1,755.

District focal person for Covid-19 Kashif Hussain said nine of the patients belonged to Attock city, two to Hazro, and one each to Hassanabdal, Jand and Fatehjang.

He said the number of active patients in the district is 358 and 351 of them are home isolated and seven hospitalised.

He said 13 suspected patients are also admitted to the district headquarters hospital and 11 of them are in critical condition.

Schools sealed

The outbreak of Covid-19 among teachers and students of 13 educational institutes forced the educational authorities to suspend academic activities for one week and sealed them.

According to a notification issued by the district education authority, six of the educational institutions were in Hazro, three in Fatehjang, two in Jand, one each in Pindigheb and Attock.

According to the chief executive officer district education authority Mohsin Abbass, these educational institutions included Government Girls High School Formali, Govt Boys High School Jalalia, Govt Girls High School Kalu Kalan, Govt Girls High School Waisa, Govt Boys High School Formali, Govt Girls High School Shamsabad, Govt Girls High School Baryar, Govt Boys High School Chhab, Govt Boys High School Dakhner, Govt Boys High School Mianwala, Govt Boys High School Jabbi Kisran, Govt Boys High School Bahtar and Govt Girls High School Jabbi Kisran. — Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2021