ISLAMABAD: The twin cities continued to report lesser number of Covid-19 cases as 103 people contracted the virus on Wednesday compared to 234 the previous day.

Islamabad recorded four deaths while three patients breathed their last in Rawalpindi district.

According to officials of the capital administration, 67 cases surfaced on Wednesday, which was the lowest single day count since Oct 19 when 73 positive cases were reported.

They said after a gap of three days, the number of deaths had risen. During the last three days, two deaths each were reported.

The four patients who died were admitted at Pims and were residents of G-10, G-8, Khanna and H-13.During the last 24 hours, 3,770 tests were conducted out of which 40 males and 27 females tested positive. The positivity rate recorded in Islamabad was 1.7pc.

Eight cases each were reported from Bhara Kahu and G-9 followed by seven from Lohi Bher, five from I-8, three each from G-10, E-11, G-11, G-8 and I-10, two each from G-6, F-11, Khanna, Sohan and Chak Shahzad, one each from Rawat, G-7, F-10, F-7, Alipur, Koral, Kurri, Kirpa, H-13, Model Town Humak, I-14, Jhangi Syedan, Phulgran and Shah Allah Ditta.

Seven deaths recorded in twin cities; 103 contract virus compared to 234 a day earlier

The death toll from the virus has reached 398 while the tally of positive cases has hit 36,483, the officials said, adding that so far 31,332 patients have recovered. There are 4,753 active cases in the capital at present.

Rawalpindi

The garrison city witnessed a sharp decline in Covid-19 cases as 36 people tested positive on Wednesday compared to 93 last week.

Mortality rate has also fallen as three people died on Wednesday compared to six to eight casualties reported every day last week.

Mukhtiar Aurangzeb, 64, a resident of Shabbir Lane, Peshawar Road, had been under treatment at the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) since Dec 10 but could not survive and died on Wednesday.

Nusrat Ali, 65, a resident of Gulshanabad, Adiala Road, also was being treated at RIU since Dec 11 but died late Tuesday night. Sadat Ghazi Khan, 78, from Sukho Gujar Khan, was brought to Holy Family Hospital on Dec 22 where he succumbed to the virus on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the district administration has expedited its campaign against violation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and has imposed fine of Rs73,000 on 86 shopping malls, restaurants, marriage halls and public transport and confiscated 31 vehicles since Dec 22. A fine of Rs2,550 has also been collected from 38 people who were not wearing masks in public places.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that less number of infected people arrived in hospitals and visited private laboratories, urging people to adopt safety measures to avoid spread of the virus.

He said smart lockdowns had also played a role to curtail the spread, adding that the trend of new cases was changing as they were being reported from different places instead of a specific street or area.

He said 14,922 people had been infected in the last 10 months with 12,545 in Rawalpindi, 990 in Attock, 63 in Jhelum and 467 in Chakwal.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2020