RAWALPINDI: As many as three patients died from Covid-19 on Saturday while 20 tested positive for the deadly virus. However, no patient was discharged from hospitals.

Mohammad Altaf, 43, a resident of Sangal Town, was brought to Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) on Jan 15 where he died on Saturday. Taj Begum, 73, from Shah Faisal Colony Chaklala, was admitted to Fauji Foundation Hospital on Jan 15 where she lost her battle against the virus on Saturday.

Saeeda Begum, 69, from Dhoke Chiraghdin, breathed her last at Shifa International Hospital on Friday night where she was beint treated since Jan 15.

In Rawalpindi district, the number of active patients stands at 382 with 70 being treated in hospitals and 312 isolated in their homes.

As many as 457 patients are waiting for their coronavirus serology results for the last four days.

At present, 70 have been admitted to Rawalpindi hospitals out of whom 15 are in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, eight in Fauji Foundation Hospital, 16 in Holy Family Hospital, two in Red Crescent Hospital, 23 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, one in Begum Akhtar Rukhsana Memorial Trust Hospital and five in Hearts International Hospital. A total of five patients are on ventilators, 28 required oxygen and 37 are stable.

Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that 16,243 people have tested positive since March 2020. According to the breakdown, 13,327 were under treatment in Rawalpindi, 1,148 in Attock, 1,188 in Jhelum and 580 in Chakwal.

He said 14,942 patients had been discharged from hospitals after recovering in the four districts and 693 fell prey to the pandemic in Rawalpindi Division in the last 10 months.

Islamabad In the federal capital, 139 new cases were detected with a positivity rate recorded at 2.05pc on Saturday.

However, a downwards trend in the weekly positivity ratio has been seen with the health experts hopeful of the cases not rising in the coming days.

According to a graph, Covid-19 positivity rate was 6.83pc in last week of November but then it started declining and reached 3.37pc in the last week of December.

However, during the last week from Jan 11 to Jan 16, the positivity ratio was 2.49pc. District Health Officer Islamabad Dr Zaeem Zia told Dawn that it was a good sign that the positivity ratio was continuously declining.

“We have been doing contact tracing of positive cases due to which every time we manage to break the chain, the virus stops spreading further. However, we suggest people to strictly follow the standard operating procedures and wear masks,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021