ISLAMABAD: Shah Allah Ditta was sealed on Wednesday after an outbreak of Covid-19 was reported among residents in the area.

The total number of cases in Islamabad rose to 199 after 14 people, including seven members of one family, tested positive for the disease.

A notification issued from the office of the deputy commissioner said that on the recommendation of the District Health Office and recent confirmed reports of Covid-19 patients residing in Dhera Lumardar and the surrounding vicinity, Shah Allah Ditta has been sealed in the greater public interest and to prevent a widespread outbreak.

The Islamabad police, Rangers and army have been asked to cordon off the area, it said.

Capital administration officials said that a family from the area had travelled to Peshawar to attend a funeral. When they returned to Islamabad, they exhibited symptoms of Covid-19 and subsequently tested positive.

Seven members of a family living in a mosque in F-7, ambulance driver in Nilore test positive

Four members of the family have been diagnosed, and two other local residents also contracted the disease from them, they said.

They added that people with whom the patients had been in contact with were being traced, but it had been revealed that social distancing restrictions were violated in the area.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat told Dawn that Shah Allah Ditta was sealed after six residents tested positive for Covid-19. He said samples were collected from 40 others, and their test results were awaited.

“The area has more than 100 suspected Covid-19 [patients],” Mr Shafqaat said, adding that precautionary measures have been taken and the area has been sealed, while all confirmed and suspected patients have been asked to self-isolate.

Mr Shafqaat said seven members of a family have also tested positive in Islamabad. One of the patients is the khateeb at a mosque in F-7 and a seminary attached to it.

He said that an elderly man who recently died and was buried inBattagramposthumously tested positive for Covid-19. His family was traced and found to be residing at the mosque in F-7. The son of the deceased is a khateeb at a mosque and seminary.

The family was tested and seven members were diagnosed with Covid-19, he said. The mosque and seminary were immediately sealed and all the patients have been isolated inside. They are being provided medical assistance, and a notice has been affixed on the premises informing the public to stay away.

The healthcare department is also tracing people they were in contact with during the last two weeks, he said. Those who have been traced are being tested.

Mr Shafqaat said that 60pc to 65pc of the spread of Covid-19 in Islamabad is due to local transmission, and the rest is because of travel.

“The first 10 cases of Covid-19 were those who came from abroad and spread the virus among locals,” he said.

Administration officials have said that a Covid-19 case was also reported in Nilore, where an ambulance driver tested positive in a village there.

They said that the patient presumably contracted the virus while shifting a Covid-19 patient in the ambulance. His house has been sealed and he has been isolated there, while his family is undergoing tests and efforts are ongoing to trace and test people he met in the last two weeks.

Five people out of the total number of cases in Islamabad have died of Covid-19 so far, of whom three were residents of the capital and two were natives or residents of other areas, the officials said. They added that the latter two deceased are not being counted in Islamabad’s death toll.

They added that 26 people have recovered so far. Cases have been reported from 38 areas in the capital - 23 urban and 15 rural - while the addresses of three patients is not known. Tarlai and Bhara Kahu have reported the highest number of cases, with 27 each.

Of thenine patients admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, two are Islamabad residents and seven are from other cities. Two of the patients are in critical condition and one is on a ventilator.

Six patients are admitted to the Federal Government Services Hospital, all of whom are Islamabad residents and are stable, they said. There are also 13 patients at a private hospital who are from outside the city, 10 of whom are stable and three critical and on ventilators.

The seven patients at Pims and 13 at the private hospital who are not from Islamabad are not included in the total number of Covid-19 cases reported in Islamabad, the officials said.

They said 13 patients have been kept at a quarantine centre and the rest have been isolated at home where they are receiving medical assistance.

Officials said there are presently 4,851 available beds in Islamabad hospitals and 142 ventilators. Of these, 207 beds and 22 ventilators have been allocated for Covid-19 patients.

According to data compiled by the administration as of April 22, housewives are the second most affected group in Islamabad. A total of 32 housewives have contracted Covid-19 in the capital so far.

The most affected are healthcare professionals, 33 of whom have contracted the disease. Students make up 28 out of the total number of patients, followed by government officials at 18 and businesspeople at 12.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2020