ISLAMABAD: As many as nine people breathed their last on Tuesday as the twin cities continued to reel under the effects of coronavirus.

A slight increase in Covid-19 cases was seen in the capital city on Tuesday with 530 people getting infected. The positivity ratio however declined.

Three people, aged between 80-99 and 50-59, passed away after battling with the disease. The deceased were residents of G-9, G-7 and Sohan.

As many as 4,233 tests were conducted in the capital during the last 24 hours. As many as 523 tested positive from the 4,093 tests conducted on Monday. The positivity rate was 12.5pc on Tuesdaycompared to 12.7pc reported on Monday, officials of the capital administration said.

740 contract virus in Islamabad, Rawalpindi

The total number of virus deaths reported in the city - since the beginning of the pandemic - now stands at 645 whereas there are 12,648 active cases currently. As many as 288 patients are in hospitals with 260 on oxygen support and 28 on ventilators.

The remaining patients are home isolated. A total of 541 patients - residents of other districts - are in 15 hospitals of the capital, officials said, adding that there are 806 beds allocated for virus-affected people and the occupancy rate is 67.1pc. As many as 114 ventilators have been allocated for patients in 12 hospitals; 64 ventilators are occupied and the occupancy rate is 56.1pc.

Rawalpindi

Six people died of Covid-19 in Rawalpindi district while 210 patients tested positive and 214 others were discharged from hospitals after their recovery during the last 24 hours.

Sabro Bibi, 63, a resident of Rehmatabad, was brought to the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU) on April 10 where she died.

Maryam Bibi, 65, a resident of city area, died at Holy Family Hospital (HFH) two days after being admitted there.

Parveen Akhter, 72, a resident of Fazal Town, also died at RIU where she was brought on April 19.

Fatima Bibi, 80, was brought to Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre from Taxila on April 18 where she died.

Mohammad Akseer, 73, a resident of Quaid-i-Azam Colony Chakri Road, died at Benazir Bhutto Hospital where he was hospitalised on April 10. Shamim Akhter, 69, a resident of Kallar Syedan, died at Benazir Bhutto Hospital where she was brought on April 19.

Out of the new patients, 131 came from the garrison city, including 33 from the cantonment, 52 from Potohar Town and 46 from Rawal Town.

Moreover, 13 patients came from Gujar Khan, 22 from Taxila, 12 from Kahuta, 10 from Kallar Syedan, three from Kotli Sattian, eight patients from Murree three from Islamabad, two each from AJK and Chakwal and one each from Attock, Jhelum, Vehari and Mandi Bahauddin.

There are 2,210 active patients, and 203 of them are in hospitals and 2,009 in home isolation. As many as 655 patients are waiting for the the results of their Covid-19 serology.

Officials said 31 of the new patients were admitted in Holy Family Hospital, 21 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), three in District Headquarters Hospital, 125 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), 21 in Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) and three in Hearts International Hospital. There are 30 patients on ventilators and 117 on oxygen.

On the other hand, the divisional administration conducted raids in different areas to check the implementation of Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOPs).

Additional Commissioner Coordination Jahangir Ahmed said 885 sites checked on Tuesday, including educational institutions, and imposed fines amounting to Rs109,000 were imposed on marriage halls, restaurants. Besides, 4,442 outlets were sealed in the four districts.

Attock

The number of positive patients in Attock surged to 1,825 as three more people were found infected on Tuesday. Moreover, another patient succumbed to the virus.

District focal person for Covid-19 Kashif Hussain said the three new patients belonged to Attock city. He said Mohammad Fazal, who was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital, died of the virus. He said there are 300 active patients in the - 293 home isolated and seven, including a frontline health worker and a doctor, hospitalised. He added that seven suspected patients were also admitted to the DHQ hospital and were in critical condition. There are also 31352 suspected patients in the district.

Responding to a question, he said results of 814 suspected patients are awaited while so far 1,490 people have recovered from the virus in the district.

Taxila

Seven new cases were detected in Taxila, raising the tally to 1,453 on Tuesday. According to data released by the health authorities, the number of active patients in the area also rose to 171 in which five are hospitalised and 164 isolated. So far, 46 patients have succumbed to the disease.— Additional reporting by Amjad Iqbal

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2021