ISLAMABAD: As many as 626 people got infected with Covid-19 in the capital and Rawalpindi on Sunday, with the weekly positivity rate in both districts reaching double figures. However, no casualty was reported.

Islamabad saw 400 people getting infected in a single day while Rawalpindi district reported 226.

According to the capital’s health department, 4,875 samples were collected on Saturday out of which 410 were found positive.

According to a document available with Dawn, in the first week of June, the positivity ratio was 2.11pc which declined further, falling to 0.9pc between June 21 and 27.

However, it started to rise again, reaching 5.45pc in the first week of July and surging to 9.27pc in the last week of the month. During the week, Aug 2 to 8, infection rate was calculated at 10.01pc with 2,794 cases surfacing in a week.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services, who is not authorised to speak on record, said though the situation was alarming in the federal capital, the positive aspect was that over 50pc residents of the city had been vaccinated.

“We want to inoculate over 80pc of the residents so that herd immunity could be achieved and the number of cases decreases,” he added.

The official said the city faced a major setback before and after Eidul Azha as a large number of people travelled to their hometowns and visitedmarkets.

“We urge masses to strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures and wear masks. Moreover they should get vaccinated at the earliest,” he added.

Rawalpindi

As many as 226 people contracted Covid-19 in Rawalpindi district on Sunday while 23 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the deadly virus in the last 24 hours.

According to data, the positivity rate was recorded at 12.83pc whereas on Aug 4, the ratio stood at 18pc.

There are 1,904 active patients in Rawalpindi district out of whom 167 were in hospitals, including 20 from other districts, and 1,737 were home isolated.

As many as 61 patients arrived from the cantonment areas, 58 from Potohar Town and 70 from Rawal Town while 16 patients came from Murree, eight from Kotli Sattian, six from Gujar Khan, three each from Kahuta and Taxila while one patient came from Kallar Syedan.

There were 167 patients admitted to the city hospitals out of whom 31 were in Holy Family Hospital, 22 in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 59 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, four patients were admitted to District Headquarters Hospital, 40 were in Fauji Foundation Hospital, two patients each were under treatment in Hearts International Hospital and Attock Hospital, three were in Bilal Hospital while four patients were admitted to Begum Akhtar Sultana Trust Hospital.

As many as six patients were on ventilator in Rawalpindi, 96 required oxygen support while condition of 65 others was stable.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021