RAWALPINDI: After five more Delta variant cases surfaced on Saturday, the district administration has started contemplating imposing smart lockdowns in the hotspots.

Officials said 67 people tested positive in the district on Friday while one person succumbed to the virus. A total of 18 patients were however discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.

With reports of Delta variant cases, the district administration said it had launched safety measures to avoid further spread of the disease besides considering imposing smart lockdown in the areas from where the new patients reported to hospitals.

Deputy Commissioner Aamir Aqiq Khan told Dawn: “We are going for contact tracing of the patients and will compile their complete data.”

Five more diagnosed with Delta variant, slight decrease in positivity rate in capital

He said there was also a plan to isolate people diagnosed with the Delta variant in their houses for two weeks and provide them health facilities in their homes.

The deputy commissioner said strict implementation of health guidelines would be ensured in restaurants, tourist spots and public transport.

He said vaccination certificates of people coming to restaurants and shopping malls would also be checked, adding that heavy fines would be imposed in case of violation of the standard operating procedures.

According to data, the patient who died of Covid-19 was identified as Parveen Akhtar Khokhar, 73, a resident of Wah Cantonment. She was brought to Shifa International Hospital on July 9 but could not survive.

There are 427 active patients in the district out of whom 86 were in hospitals and 341 home isolated.

As many as 21 of the new cases were reported from Rawal Town, 15 from the cantonment areas, 10 from Potohar Town, 13 from Taxila and one each from Gujar Khan and Murree. Moreover, three patients arrived from Islamabad and one each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khushab and Sargodha.

Officials said 10 of the patients each were admitted to Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 16 were under treatment in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and eight in Fauji Foundation Hospital.

One patient was on ventilator, 28 required oxygen and 15 are stable.

Islamabad

The number of cases and the positivity rate slightly decreased in the capital on Saturday.

Officials said 113 new cases were reported compared to 141 on Friday. In the last 24 hours, 1,963 tests were conducted and the positivity rate remained 5.75pc compared to 7.12pc on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat, in a tweet, said: “Covid19 per day cases are increasing at a very fast pace in Islamabad. We have started massive inspections and sealed 10 shops and imposed fine Rs700,000 over violations of SOPs.”

There were 1,484 active cases in the capital on Saturday, said the officials.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2021