Six pc Covid-19 infection rate in Rawalpindi rings alarm bells

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: The fourth wave of the pandemic seems to be hitting Rawalpindi-Islamabad hard and its 6 pc infectivity rate is ringing alarm bells with 267 new cases, whereas the rest of Punjab registered 364 new cases in the last 24 hours with four deaths.

Around four patients died from COVID-19 while other 364 new cases were confirmed in Punjab province during the last 24 hours. Of these four deaths, one was reported from District Lahore alone, bringing the total number of COVID-related deaths to 10,856 in the province.

According to report issued by Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SH) Department Punjab on Friday, there were 9,275 active cases of COVID-19 across the province while total cases reported from across the province were 349,475 so far.

Around 17,412 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours raising the number of total tests to 5,912,490 in the province while 329,344 COVID-19 patients have recovered in the province so far.

P&SHD Secretary Sarah Aslam said that vaccination was the only effective shield against COVID-19 new variant Delta. She added that 118 mobile vaccination camps had been set up in all cattle markets of the province.

Muhammad Qasim adds from Rawalpindi: As many as 267 new cases of coronavirus illness, COVID-19 from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district in the last 24 hours show that the fourth wave of the outbreak is hitting population harder in this region of the country.

The virus claimed one more life from Rawalpindi district in the last 24 hours taking death toll from the twin cities to 1,791 while confirmation of 267 new patients positive has taken total number of patients so far registered from the region to 109,804. It is important that the number of cases reported from ICT and Rawalpindi district in the last 24 hours was the highest from the region in a day after May 21.

It is much alarming that the positivity rate of COVID-19 from ICT and Rawalpindi district has been showing a continuous upward trend for the last two weeks or so. In the last 24 hours, the positivity ratio from Rawalpindi district has been recorded as 6.07 per cent that is the highest at least in the last one-and-a-half months.

Many health experts believe that the increase in number of COVID-19 cases and a continuous rise in the positivity ratio of the infection ahead of Eidul Azha may cause havoc because of mass scale movement of individuals in different wholesale and retail markets.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Friday reveals that no patient died of COVID-19 from the federal capital in the last 24 hours though 787 patients belonging to ICT had already lost their lives due to the illness.