ISLAMABAD: Due to the shortage of manpower and engagement of police and the district administration in maintaining peace, seven sub-sectors in the capital city could not be sealed.

Officials of the capital administration said the District Health Office had recommended sealing the seven areas due to an increase in the number of positive cases there. In response, the deputy commissioner office issued a notification to seal G-6/1, G-6/2, G-7/2, G-8/1, G-9/2, G-10/4 and G-11/3.

A senior officer of the administration told Dawn on condition of anonymity that as per the notification the sub-sectors were to be sealed for 10 days at 8pm on April 13. But due to shortage of police officials, the areas are yet to be sealed, he added.

Notification was issued to lock down hotspots at 8pm on April 13, says official

There was a law and order situation due to the protests by a banned religious group and police and administration remained engaged in keeping peace, he added.

When contacted, District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia expressed ignorance about the issue.

The G-6 sector has 552 active cases, G-10 446, G-7 413, G-9 400, G-11 399 and G-8 has 331 cases. Sector G-6 has the fifth highest number of active cases followed by G-10 (sixth highest), G-7 (eighth), G-9 (ninth), G-11 (10th) and G-8 13th highest number of active cases.

In Islamabad, Loi Bher has the highest number of active cases at 947, followed by 733 in Tarlai and 710 in Bhara Kahu, the officials said, adding there were 1,150 active cases in the capital whose addresses were not known.

Meanwhile, an increase was seen in the number of cases along with the daily positivity rate in the capital.

Officials said 599 more cases were reported on Friday compared to 575 on Thursday.

During the last 24 hours, 5,968 tests were conducted and 329 males and 270 females tested positive, they said, adding the positivity rate was 10.03pc. On Thursday, the positivity rate was 9.3pc.

A female patient of Covid-19 also died of the disease. She was in the age group of 80-89 years and a resident of Bhara Kahu.

There are 12,206 active cases, the officials said, adding so far 626 deaths have been reported in the capital.

On Friday, the highest number of cases (124) was reported in the age group of 0-9, followed by 118 in 30-39, 106 in 20-29, 82 in 40-49; 65 in 50-59; 49 in 60-69, 31 in 10-19, 18 in 70-79 and six in 80 and above.

Rawalpindi

As many as 119 people tested positive in Rawalpindi while no patient was discharged from hospitals. Moreover, there was no death from the disease.

The Punjab health department had asked the district administration to impose a smart lockdown in four streets, till April 26, in Takbeer Lane Adiala Road, Judicial Apartments Civil Lines, B-Block Satellite Town and a street in Mohallah Gulshan Saeed, Chakri Road.

A senior official said the total population of these areas was 736 and 18 people contracted the virus in a day or two.

Out of the new cases, 83 were reported from the garrison city - 31 from the cantonment, 27 from Potohar Town and 25 from Rawal Town.

Moreover, 12 patients came from Gujar Khan, four from Taxila, two from Murree, seven from Kotli Sattian, two each from Islamabad and Chakwal, five from Attock and one each from AJK and Gujrat.

There are 2,924 active patients in the district - 683 in hospitals and 2,241 in home isolation. Besides, 640 patients are waiting for the results of their Covid-19 serology.

Of the new patients, 25 were admitted in Holy Family Hospital, 26 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), two in District Headquarters Hospital, 127 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), 23 in Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) and three in Hearts International Hospital.

There are 41 patients on ventilators and 118 are on oxygen.

Attock

The district education authority on Friday sealed six more schools as their staff members and students were found infected with Covid-19.

Three of the educational institutions are in Attock city, two in Jand and one in Hazro.

According to chief executive officer district education authority Mohsin Abbas, these educational institutions include Government Boys Elementary School Haji Shah, Government Girls Elementary School Sanjwal and Government Girls Elementary School Dheri Kot in Attock city; Government Girls Elementary School Dandi Jasswal, Government Boys High School Mathial in Jand and Government Girls Elementary School Damman in Hazro.

Taxila

The number of positive patients in Taxila on Friday surged to 1,432 after seven more people tested positive.

According to health officials, the number of active patients in the area also rose to 214 in which seven are hospitalised and 207 home isolated. So far, 1,180 patients have recovered from the disease. — Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2021