Polyclinic, the largest public-sector hospital in Islamabad, is facing a shortage of medical staff with a large number of healthcare workers quarantining after testing positive for the coronavirus, it emerged on Monday.

As many as 42 doctors, 72 nurses and 68 paramedical staff were placed in quarantine after contracting the virus, Abdul Jabbar Bhutto, a Polyclinic spokesperson, said.

He said the hospital was facing a shortage of staff due to the rapid and vast spread of the virus among doctors and nurses. To cope with the situation, a strategy has been devised to extract maximum work from the remaining staff, Bhutto added.

The hospital plans to call only those healthcare professionals to resume work who develop antibodies against the virus, according to the spokesperson.

A third isolation ward with 37 beds has also been inaugurated for Covid-19 patients.

During the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, 100 doctors, 120 nurses and 150 paramedical staff of Polyclinic were severely affected by the virus, the hospital representative said.

On Saturday, the capital had reported more than 700 Covid-19 cases for the third time since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year with the positivity rate hitting 10.74 per cent.

Officials of the capital administration said 709 cases were reported in the city which was the second-highest daily figure during the third wave of the virus.

Islamabad recorded 538 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, prompting the administration to seal 11 more residential areas and ban all gatherings, including outdoor marriages.

Moreover, educational institutions were stopped from conducting exams. Scores of people were also arrested over violations of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).