ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: The confirmed cases of coronavirus continued increasing in the twin cities with the capital city reporting 85 and Rawalpindi 49 new cases on Friday.

Moreover, one person each died of the disease in the capital and the Rawalpindi city, health officials said.

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Joint Executive Director Dr Minhajus Siraj said the patient who died of the virus was admitted to the hospital a couple of days. He was a resident of Islamabad and in the age group of 60-69, he added.

He also said so far 70 staff members of Pims, including doctors and paramedics, have been infected with the virus.

“Fortunately, the hospital staff dealing with the Covid-19 patients are safe as they are taking all precautionary measures and wearing Personal Protective Equipment,” he added.

Cases have started coming from all parts of Rawalpindi district, official says

“The staff members of the hospital who have tested positive contracted the virus from outside the hospital,” he claimed.

The intensive care unit (ICU) of Pims reserved for the coronavirus patients is full, he said, adding another isolation ward with the capacity of 19 beds had also reached its full capacity.

Officials of the capital administration said the death toll from the virus in Islamabad has reached 75, including 20 residents of the capital.

They died at different hospitals of the capital.

The tally of confirmed cases also increased to 2,100 from 2,015 as 85 more patients were reported in the capital, they said, adding 10 cases were reported from Loi Bher, eight from G-9, seven from I-8, six each from I-10 and Rawat, five from G-10, four each from G-11, G-8, H-11, I-9, three each from Chak Shahzad, F-11, G-6, Khanna, Sohan, and two each from E-11, F-2, G-13.

Out of the total patients, 69 per cent were male and 31pc female, they stated.

Twenty hospitals in the capital had pledged 474 beds for the coronavirus patients, including 100 at FGSH, 75 at Pims, 12 at FGPC, 10 at CDA Hospital.

So far, 160 beds for the virus-affected people are allocated at eight hospitals, including 75 at Pims, 12 at FGSH, 10 at CDA, 30 at Shifa International, 16 at QIH, 10 at Kasloom International Hospital and six at AMC F-8.

Rawalpindi

As many as 49 coronavirus patients reported in the government hospitals of the garrison city on Friday and one patient died while three others were discharged after recovering from Covid-19.

A 68-year-old resident of Khyaban-i-Sir Syed, who was brought to Holy Family Hospital on May 28, died on Thursday night.

The number of confirmed patients in Rawalpindi district reached 2427 while 90 people have died and 937 others discharged after recovery from Rawalpindi’s four hospitals.

At present, 1400 confirmed patients are under treatment, including 468 at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital and 932 patients are isolated in their houses.

Apart from this, 791 suspected patients were also brought to three hospitals and their samples were sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Benazir Bhutto Hospital laboratory but the results are awaited.

The local administrations also keep 3106 people on quarantine who had been in close contact with the confirmed patients.

Moreover, 50 people who had returned from abroad tested positive and they have been kept on isolation.

According to a district administration report, from May 11 to 17 as many as 523 confirmed patients emerged but from May 24 to May 29, a total of 258 people tested positive.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood said the number of patients in Rawalpindi was increasing compared to other districts. He said earlier the coronavirus patients were reporting only from some areas but now the virus has spread to all parts of the district.

In Attock, he added, 103 confirmed patients had emerged while four died and 55 recovered from the disease. In Jhelum, 205 patients were reported and four died while 155 patients recovered. In Chakwal, 47 people tested positive, two of them died and 25 recovered.

He said the district administration and health authority of Rawalpindi district had been directed to speed up the campaign to disinfect the hotspots.

He said more than 6100 testing kits were available in the division but more kits would be arriving in a day or two from Lahore. He said there was no shortage of equipment and medical staff.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2020