ISLAMABAD: The sharp increase in Covid-19 cases continued in the capital on Thursday and officials feared a further surge in upcoming days.

Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat said the positivity rate in the capital had doubled to 6.29pc in just seven days. “We are expecting that it will triple next week,” he added.

Those who are not vaccinated are at the higher risk and majority of them are getting hospitalised, he added.

The positivity rate in the district of Rawalpindi also increased to 6.02pc.

Officials in Islamabad said 284 cases were reported on Thursday. During the last 24 hours, 4509 tests were conducted out of which 173 males and 111 females tested positive with a 6.29pc positivity rate. On Wednesday, 165 cases had been reported with a 4.5pc positivity rate.

They said 84 cases were reported in the age group of 30-39, 65 in 20-29, 42 in 40-49, 30 in 50-59, 21 each in 10-19 and 60-69, 15 in 0-9, five in 70-79 and one in 80 and above.

Besides, 16 cases were reported from G-9 followed by 14 each from F-11 and G-5, 11 each from F-10 and I-8, 10 each from Rawat, G-10 and I-9, nine from G-6, eight each from Bhara Kahu and F-6, seven each from Loi Bher and F-8, five from G-7, four each from G-11, G-13, I-10, Kurri, Khanna, I-12 and Phulgran, three each from E-11, D-12, Tarlai, G-8, F-7 and H-9, two each from Chak Shahzad and F-15 and one each from Koral, Sihala, G-15, F-5, H-12, Bari Imam, I-11, Kirpa, Rawal Town and Tarno. There are 1,133 active patients in the capital - 43 admitted in hospitals and the rest home isolated.

Rawalpindi

After five months, the number of Covid-19 cases crossed the mark of 100 as 109 people were found infected in the district on Thursday.

However, seven patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.

On August 11, as many as 109 cases had been reported in the district. The number of cases started increasing on January 1.

“The district authority sent samples of 42 patients for the Omicron variant pathological test to the National Institute of Health (NIH),” Dr Ehsan Ghani, the district health officer, told Dawn.

He said people had been advised to adopt safety measures as cases were increasing.

He said vaccination against Covid-19 had been sped up and the health authority was creating awareness among people to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

According to the health authority, the positivity rate in the district increased from 2.87pc on Wednesday to 6.02pc on Thursday. Total 1810 samples were collected and 109 of them were found infected with the virus.

In the district, there are 331 active patients - 22 in hospitals and 309 home isolated.

As many as 38 cases were reported from different parts of Rawalpindi and Chaklala Cantonment, 23 from city areas and 25 patients from Potohar Town. Eight patients reported from Kallar Syedan, seven from Kahuta, four from Taxila and three from Gujar Khan. One patient also arrived from Islamabad.

There are 22 patients admitted in different hospitals of Rawalpindi city - five in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, nine in Fauji Foundation Hospital and eight in the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology. There is one patient on ventilator, 14 patients are on oxygen and seven are stable. — Aamir Yasin also contributed to the story

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2022