2 deaths, 128 new COVID-19 cases keep situation alarming

Rawalpindi : The number of patients tested positive for coronavirus illness, COVID-19 from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district is on sharp increase for at least two weeks as almost every 6th patient tested positive from Pakistan in last week is a resident of the region showing that the region has started facing second wave of coronavirus.

In last 24 hours, the virus claimed another two lives in Rawalpindi district while as many as 128 new patients have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Severity of the outbreak can be gauged by the fact that nearly 1,000 new patients have been reported from ICT and Rawalpindi in last eight days.

Of a total of 997 new patients tested positive from the region in last eight days, as many as 859 are residents of the federal capital while 141 belong to Rawalpindi showing the federal capital is the worst hit area of the country at the moment.

According to District Health Officer ICT Dr. Muhammad Zaeem Zia, reporting of greater number of cases from ICT is a good sign as it shows that cases in the federal capital are being diagnosed well in time and that is why the number of deaths being reported from Islamabad is relatively less as compared to other districts of the country.

Talking to ‘The News’, he said due to early diagnosis of cases in the federal capital, the recovery rate of patients at the time is well over 93 per cent. As many as 118 new patients have been tested positive for the illness in last 24 hours taking tally to 18187 of which 16807 have recovered, he said.

It is important that to date, the virus claimed as many as 195 lives in ICT while on Tuesday, there were 1185 active cases of COVID-19.

On the other hand, 10 new patients were tested positive from Rawalpindi district in last 24 hours taking tally to 6634 while two died of the illness. To date, a total of 302 patients have lost their lives in the district while 6177 have so far recovered.

At present, only 10 confirmed patients of COVID-19 have been undergoing treatment at a healthcare facility in the district while 145 confirmed patients have been in home isolation, said Executive District Officer (Health) Rawalpindi Dr. Sohail Ahmed Chaudhary while talking to ‘The News’.

As many as 380 suspects of the disease were under home quarantine in the district on Tuesday.