Four test positive for COVID-19, over 70 under quarantine in Pindi

RAWALPINDI: As many as four patients have been tested positive for coronavirus illness, COVID-19 here in town in last 24 hours that has taken the total number of patients so far tested positive from Rawalpindi to 42 while the patients belonging to other districts of the country and Islamabad undergoing treatment in Rawalpindi have been removed from the district’s data.

It is important that over 70 persons have been kept under quarantine at two different quarantine facilities established in universities in Rawalpindi and their health is being monitored on regular basis.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Wednesday reveals that to date, a total of 54 patients have been tested positive from Islamabad Capital Territory excluding those who are residents of other areas of the country including Rawalpindi. As many as six patients belonging to Rawalpindi district have been undergoing treatment at the healthcare facilities in the federal capital.

Similarly, a total of six confirmed patients of COVID-19 who are residents of other districts or Islamabad are undergoing treatment at the healthcare facilities in Rawalpindi. According to the data, a total of 48 confirmed patients were undergoing treatment at healthcare facilities in Rawalpindi on Wednesday while 60 in Islamabad including 16 at hospital making a total of 108 cases in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It is important that three patients have so far died of the infection in Rawalpindi.

At present, a total of 39 confirmed patients of COVID-19 are undergoing treatment at Corona Management Centre established at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, said Medical Superintendent at RIU Dr. Khalid Randhawa while talking to ‘The News’ on Wednesday. He added the patients admitted to the CMC are stable at the time.

The district health department has started managing district wise data of confirmed patients for better surveillance, said Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Sohail Ahmed Chaudhary while talking to ‘The News’.

He said the health department is working on contact tracing to screen all contacts of the patients who have already been tested positive for coronavirus illness in the district. All four new patients tested positive in last 24 hours have contacts with some confirmed patient, he said.

He added that as many as 64 persons have been kept under quarantine at quarantine facility established at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi and seven persons are under quarantine at quarantine facility in Fatima Jinnah Women University. The health department is focusing on contact screening and isolation of suspects, he said.