139 tested positive in twin cities, 10 new cases confirmed

Islamabad : The number of total patients confirmed positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by 2019 novel coronavirus here in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi reached 139 on Saturday after confirmation of 10 new patients positive for the disease in last 24 hours in the region.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Saturday reveals that in last 24 hours, seven more patients have been tested positive for COVID-19 in the federal capital taking total number of confirmed patients so far registered in Islamabad Capital Territory to 75 of which at least 72 cases are being considered as active cases while three patients have recovered completely.

On Saturday, as many as 18 of 72 active cases were undergoing treatment at the hospitals while some 54 patients were put in isolation at home or quarantine facility after advice from the healthcare facilities as they are stable and not in need of in-hospital management.

Meanwhile in Rawalpindi, another three patients have been tested positive for COVID-19 in last 24 hours taking total number of confirmed patients in the district to 64. The infection has already claimed three lives in the district and it is important that all patients so far confirmed in the district are undergoing treatment at the healthcare facilities including Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Corona Management Centre at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology.

It is, however, worth mentioning here that in Rawalpindi a total of 385 confirmatory tests were performed of which 64 turned out to be positive while in the federal capital, a total of over 2500 tests were carried out and the result is confirmation of 75 cases.

We have been extensively working on contact tracing of all confirmed patients reported in the district and majority of samples sent by the district health department or hospitals to National Institute of Health Islamabad were of contacts of patients, said Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Sohail Ahmed Chaudhary while talking to ‘The News’ on Saturday.

He said the status of persons under quarantine is unchanged on Saturday as a total of 243 persons are under quarantine in Rawalpindi including 43 at the two quarantine facilities established at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi and Fatima Jinnah Women University and 200 persons at their homes.

Our correspondent adds: In continuation of precautionary measures taken to prevent and control the spread of coronavirus in the city, three more disinfectant walkthrough gates have been installed in the city, says a press release.

Out of these, two walkthrough gates have been installed at G-9 in front of Utility Store by ICT Administration with the cooperation of CDA. After complete installation the walkthrough gates have been handed over to utility store management. In this connection a walkthrough disinfectant gate has also been installed at Tarlai Panahagah with the help of donors.

ICT Administration had planned to installed 20 sanitizing walkthrough gates for spraying disinfectants at different locations of Islamabad, out of which sanitising walkthrough gates at Sabzi Mandi and G- 9 Markaz have been installed, while work of installation of two sanitizing walkthrough gates at the Pak-Secretariat is in progress.

Meanwhile, Chief Commissioner Office in collaboration with NDMA & CDA has coordinated spraying chemical in Sector I-10. This activity was participated by civil society, traders community and other segments, during which whole sector including mosques, markets, markaz and other area including OGDCL Quarantine Centre.