4th patient tested positive at PIMS

Islamabad : Fourth patient has been tested positive for disease caused by 2019 novel coronavirus, COVID-19 here at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences taking total number of patients undergoing treatment at PIMS in isolation to five as result in one case is yet to be received by the hospital.

The fourth patient, a male was confirmed positive for COVID-19 late Saturday night though the news was not made public by the health authorities. The wife of the patient has already been undergoing treatment at PIMS who was confirmed positive for illness caused by novel coronavirus 2019 Saturday evening.

According to details, the couple reached Pakistan from the United States one-and-a-half week back and attended a marriage in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The wife of the recently confirmed patient was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in a housing society in Rawalpindi but after suspecting her a patient of COVID-19, the private hospital referred her to PIMS three days back.

Both the wife and the husband have been put on ventilator support, said a top official at PIMS isolation ward while talking to ‘The News’ on Sunday. The official added that confirmation of a new patient took the total number of confirmed patients of COVID-19 undergoing treatment at PIMS to four. The fifth patient is also on ventilator support at PIMS though he is less likely to be positive for COVID-19 as he has no travel history of any affected country or contact with any affected person, said the official.

It is important that the first patient of COVID-19, a 61-year old male was tested positive for the disease at PIMS on February 26. He reached Pakistan from Iran, the third most affected country by novel coronavirus 2019 in the world so far.