ISLAMABAD: With the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Islamabad and the Rawalpindi district, the capital administration decided to close Faisal Mosque and Daman-i-Koh for visitors in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

One patient died in Rawalpindi district whereas 581 people were diagnosed with the disease in both areas.

Positivity in the capital was recorded at 9.2pc while that in Rawalpindi jumped to 14.5pc, a drastic increase from 5.5pc recorded the day before.

The deceased was identified as Mohammad Mehfooz, 75, a resident of the city area of Pindi. He was brought to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital on Aug 14.

581 new cases emerge in Islamabad, Pindi districts

According to data from the capital administration, 4,796 tests were conducted out of which 444 samples were found positive.

A document, signed by Additional District Magistrate Rana Waqas, available with Dawn, stated that Daman-i-Koh and Faisal Mosque were closed on Aug 15 as large crowds had been seen in both the places which could lead to further spread of the virus.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services, requesting not to be quoted, said people had a long weekend due to the Independence Day and spent two days on roads and markets.

“Earlier, there was rush in markets as people, especially children, were busy buying flags and other goods related to Independence Day such as fireworks. Now, we are going to have another long weekend on Ashura due to which on one hand people will participate in processions and majalis and on the other some others will organise picnics as they have still kept meat of sacrificial animals in their freezers,” he said.

He said both processions and barbeque parties would become the reason for the spread of the virus and the situation could spiral out of control.

“I fear that by next month we will be left with no choice but to enforce restrictions and maybe we will go for the closure of schools and markets. The citizens should strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and avoid unnecessary gatherings,” he said.

Meanwhile, 215 patients were discharged from hospitals in Rawalpindi after recovering in the last 24 hours. It has been observed that there is still no proper implementation of the SOPs in the garrison city.

There are 2,229 active patients currently in the district. As many as 224 patients are in hospitals and 2,005 home isolated.

Officials said 32 patients arrived from cantonment areas, 20 from city areas, 23 from Potohar Town, 24 from Kahuta, 16 from Taxila, seven from Gujar Khan, three from Kallar Syedan, two from Murree and one from Kotli Sattian. Four patients also arrived from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, two from Attock, one each from Islamabad, Chakwal and Mianwali.

As many as 51 patients are admitted in Holy Family Hospital, 35 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), 78 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), five in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, 44 in Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH), four patients each in Hearts International Hospital and Bilal Hospital, two patients in Begum Akhter Sultana Trust Hospital and one patient in Attock Hospital.

There are five patients on ventilators in Rawalpindi, 119 are on oxygen support and 100 are stable.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2021