RAWALPINDI: Covid-19 claimed another four lives in Rawalpindi on Sunday as the positivity rate in the federal capital and its adjoining district continued to fall.

A total of 536 people contracted the virus in the last 24 hours in both districts.

According to the health authority data, Naseem Akhtar, 72, a resident of Mohallah Hafizabad, Gujar Khan, was brought to Kalsoom International Hospital on Feb 5 but she died on Sunday. Similarly, Taj Mohammad, 70, from Iqbal Town, Shakrial, and Rashida Bibi, 55, from Airport Housing Societywere brought to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on Feb 5 but they too could not survive.

A.B. Ghafoor, 75, a resident of Raiyan Ghorsiyan, Gujar Khan, succumbed to the virus at the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology where he was brought on Feb 5.

Rawalpindi district has seen a reduction in the positivity ratio during the last three days, with 7.22pc calculated on Sunday. A total of 984 samples have been collected out of which results of 71 people came back positive.

There were 2,113 active patients in Rawalpindi as of Feb 6, out of whom 112 were under treatment in hospitals and 2001 home isolated.

A total of 13 patients surfaced from different parts of Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonments, 15 from city areas and 12 patients came from Potohar Town.

Similarly, six patients arrived from Gujar Khan while two each came from Kahuta and Kallar Syedan. Three patients were brought from Murree, six from Islamabad, five from Azad Kashmir and one patient each came from Attock, Bagh, Chakwal and Jhelum.

There are 112 patients of Covid-19 admitted to hospitals of Rawalpindi city out of whom eight are in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, four in Holy Family Hospital, four are in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, 35 patients are admitted to Fauji Foundation Hospital and 53 patients are in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology.

One patient each was admitted to Attock Hospital Rawalpindi, Hearts International Hospital, Begum Akhtar Rukhsana Memorial Trust hospital and Bilal Hospital.

Six patients were on ventilator, 64 required oxygen support and 42 were stable.

Islamabad

After hitting the city hard for over a month, there was a clear decline in the number of cases in the federal capital as the weekly positivity ratio fell to 10.26pc. Earlier, it was recorded at 16.45pc the previous week and 14.26pc the week before.

A total of 465 people tested positive out of 5,412 tests conducted by the health authorities on Sunday.The single day infection rate was calculated at 8.59pc.

Talking to Dawn, District Health Officer (DHO) Islamabad Dr Zaeem Zia said the situation would become clearer in the next two days as more tests were conducted during the working days.

According to documents, available withDawn, over 1,500 cases were being reported in the last week of January, but the number fell in the current month and now the count has gone down below 500.

The weekly positivity rate was less than 1pc in the last week of December but it started to rise, reaching 5.38pc in the second week of January and 16.45pcin the last week of January.

Dr Ziasaid after the emergence of Omicron variant, the number of patients started to rise throughout the world.

“A similar situation was seen in Pakistan but because of measures and restrictions, there was a clear evidence of a decline in cases. However, we will be in a better position to predict about the cases in the next two days as the number of tests will increase during the working days,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2022