180 COVID-19 cases from twin cities

Islamabad : The number of patients being tested positive for coronavirus illness, COVID-19 from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district and the positivity rate of the infection in the region has started registering alarmingly sharp increase showing the fifth wave of COVID-19 outbreak is about to hit population in the region with much severity.

The positivity rate of COVID-19 from ICT has jumped to 4.56 per cent in the last 48 hours only as it was below three per cent two days back while in Rawalpindi district, it was recorded as 2.87 per cent.

The positivity rate of the infection and the number of patients reported from this region of the country in the last 24 hours are the highest in the last three- and-a-half months.

According to District Health Officer ICT Dr. Muhammad Zaeem Zia, the upward trend is very sharp. 165 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 against 3,616 tests conducted in the federal capital at a positivity rate of 4.56 per cent, a very sharp upward trend, he said.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Wednesday reveals that in the last 24 hours, as many as 180 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported from the twin cities taking tally to 146,416 of which 2,191 patients have already lost their lives due to the illness. The virus, however, has claimed no life from the region in the last nine days.

The number of active cases from the region has also started registering sharp upward trend in the last one week or so as it has crossed the figure of 1175 on Wednesday that is also the highest number of active cases from twin cities reported on a day in the last four months.

In the last 24 hours, as many as 165 new patients have been tested positive from ICT taking tally to 109,660 of which 967 patients have lost their lives due to COVID-19. To date, a total of 107,741 patients from ICT have recovered while the number of active cases of the disease has been recorded as 952 on Wednesday.

The virus has so far claimed a total of 1,224 lives from Rawalpindi district from where another 15 patients have been tested positive in the last 24 hours taking tally to 36,756 of which 35,307 patients have recovered.

On Wednesday, as many as 14 confirmed patients from the district were undergoing treatment at the healthcare facilities in town while 211 patients were in home isolation.