RAWALPINDI: Recovered Covid-19 patients outnumbered new ones in the district on Thursday, with 170 people recovering while 41 more were diagnosed and one person died.

A 38-year-old man who lived in Adra in the cantonment died late at night on Wednesday at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH), where he was admitted on May 26.

A total of 41 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Rawalpindi, whose four hospitals have a daily capacity of 110 tests. The new patients brought the district’s total to 5856, with 244 deaths and 3,306 recoveries.

There are currently 2,306 confirmed patients in all seven tehsils of the district, including Gujar Khan, Taxila, Murree, Kotli Sattian, Kalar Syedan and Kahuta. Of these, 945 are admitted to the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), HFH and Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and 1,361 are isolated in their homes.

There are 300 suspected patients admitted to RIU, HFH, BBH and the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital who have been waiting for their Covid-19 test results since the start of the week.

Local administrations have quarantined 6,300 close contacts of previously confirmed patients.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that the number of Covid-19 patients in the garrison city is decreasing, and most of the people who have been diagnosed with the disease are not in critical condition. He said that earlier, 260 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, and the number decreased to 86 on Thursday as most had recovered.

There are currently 154 patients in high dependency units in RIU, HFH, BBH and DHQ Hospital, including 86 people on oxygen-attached beds and 21 on ventilators, he said.

Mr Mehmood added that the Punjab government is trying to conduct the maximum number of tests and has provided kits to two laboratories in BBH and HFH.

Islamabad

Another 170 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Islamabad on Thursday, slightly higher than the number of cases reported on Tuesday and Wednesday, when 132 and 137 new cases were reported, respectively.

At least 13,082 Covid-19 cases have been reported in the capital, with 129 deaths and 8,264 recoveries. There are now 4,689 active cases.

Capital administration officials said that 2,408 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, of which 170 were positive.

There were 12 cases reported from G-7, followed by 11 from the Defence Housing Authority, seven each from I-9 and G-13, six each from Thanda Pani and G-11, five each from Ghouri Town, G-6, G-9, F-5 and Bahria Town, four each from I-8, I-10, E-11, Alipur and Bhara Kahu, three each from Taramri, Shahzad Town, Pims Colony, Korang Town, Jhangi Syedan, G-8 and F-8, two each from Tarlai, Naval Anchorage, Margalla Town, Jinnah Garden, I-14, G-10, G-15, F-6, F-7 and F-10, and one each from Tarnol, D-12, Park Road, National Police Foundation, Zia Masjid, Chak Shahzad, G-5, G-14, G-16, F-11, F-17, Diplomatic Enclave, CBR Town, Basit Town, Soan Garden, Simly Valley, Wapda Colony, P.W.D., Media Town, Model Town, Rawal Town and Sangum Town.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2020