Number of patients on continuous rise

Rawalpindi : As many as 65 new patients have been tested positive for COVID-19 from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district in last 24 hours keeping situation alarming as according to health experts, the population in the region may face another spike in number of cases and deaths due to the disease in the coming days.

In this region of the country, educational institutions and marriage halls have resumed working while in Sindh province, the government has started sealing wedding halls and even educational institutions terming the setups a major factor behind spike in number of cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Health experts say that the number of patients is on a continuous rise in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and it is time for the concerned government authorities to rethink over decisions like reopening of schools, colleges, universities, and marriage halls.

The total number of patients so far reported from the region has jumped to 23132 on Sunday of which 21956 have recovered while 473 have lost their lives. The number of active cases of the disease has become 703 in the twin cities that had dropped down to 450 in the second week of September. It is alarming that the number of suspects of the disease being reported from the region is also on the rise for the last three weeks.

Data collected by ‘The News’ reveals that another 53 patients have been tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours from the federal capital taking the tally to 16,766 of which 16,034 have recovered. The number of active cases of the disease was 549 in ICT on Sunday that was 384 on September 11. The virus has so far claimed a total of 183 lives in the federal capital.

In the last 24 hours, another 12 patients have been tested positive from Rawalpindi district taking the tally to 6366 of which 5,922 have already achieved cure while 290 have lost their lives. At present, 12 patients from the district have been undergoing treatment at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology while the number of confirmed patients in home isolation is 142, said Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Sohail Ahmed Chaudhary while talking to ‘The News’. It is worth mentioning here that at present, 344 suspects of the illness have been in quarantine at their homes in Rawalpindi district whereas the number was 173 on September 9.