Gradual increase in corona cases, deaths in Multan

MULTAN: A gradual increase in corona cases and deaths has been reported in the Nishtar Hospital.

The Punjab Home Department is reviewing and monitoring the whole situation and a proposal for the smart lockdown in different districts is under consideration. Shah Rukne Alam Colony, New Multan and Bosan Road are the current hotspots of corona, an official of the district administration said.

Three corona patients - Hafeezur Rehman, 62, Tanveer Ahmed, 37, of Multan and Fazal Bibi, 74, of Muzaffargarh - had died in the Nishtar Hospital during the last 24 hours, said hospital spokesperson Dr Irfan Ahmed. The death toll has escalated to eight in the last seven days in the hospital.

Statistics show that the corona death toll was at its peak in June in the Nishtar Hospital and other hospitals and then it started to drop in the next three months. The death rate was at zero till September 29, but a sudden rise has been reported in the first week of the current month. Total 172 corona patients had died in the Nishtar Hospital since the occurrence of the pandemic.

The number of corona patients admitted to the hospital has increased from 15 to 41 in the last four days. The number of corona patients was 12 on October 1, but, now the number of corona patients is 41 in the Nishtar Hospital.

Doctors at the Nishtar Medical Health University said that the Ministry of Health has issued the Standard Operation Procedures for COVID-19, but the SOPs are largely violated at all levels in public gatherings, marriage halls, educational institutions and religious congregations.

Senior physician Dr Sheikh Abdul Khaliq said the main route of transmission of COVID-19 is through respiratory droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Any person, who is in close contact with someone who has respiratory symptoms (e.g., sneezing, coughing, etc) is at the risk of being exposed to potentially infective respiratory droplets. Droplets may also land on surfaces where the virus could remain viable for several hours to days. Transmission can occur from hands, contacting contaminated surfaces and then coming into contact with the person’s mucosa such as nose, mouth and eyes, he added.