Two more Rawalpindi streets sealed

Cases in federal capital soar past 60

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: The Rawalpindi district administration on Thursday sealed two more localities in different parts of the city after residents tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) there.

This came as the number of positive Covid-19 cases rose to 62 in the neighbouring federal capital, including a staffer at a hospital.

Saddar Assistant Commissioner (AC) Mansoor Ahmed Qazi, along with officials from the police and the health department visited sealed street 6 in Sector-I of the Airport Housing Society after three Covid-19 patients emerged there. The patients, including a senior citizen, were shifted to the civil-military hospital (CMH) and the Navy hospital.

The senior citizen was reported to be in critical condition and was shifted onto a ventilator.

The remaining three members of their family were instructed to remain in their homes under self-isolation.

Health officials said that the six-member family had recently visited Chakwal to the attended funeral of a close relative.

Separately, the district administration and health authorities sealed a street adjacent to the Noorani mosque in the Bhabara Bazaar on Thursday after a suspected patient tested positive for the virus there.

Security officials sealed the street for any kind of movement while health teams sprayed disinfectants. Residents living along the street were urged to stay indoors.

District officials said that they were preparing a list of people who had come into contact with the infected patient so that they can be isolated away from others living in the area.

Talking about the infected patient, police officials said that the victim had been staying at the Zakaria mosque and was a member of Tableeghi Jamaat.

After both streets were sealed by the district administration, security personnel were deployed to restrict the entry and exit of people to the area.

Cases rise

Meanwhile, the number of positive Covid-19 cases rose to 62 in the federal capital on Thursday with some 294 suspected patients rushed to the hospitals.

Some 15 critical Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment at the hospitals while 44 have been quarantined at home and different isolation facilities. No fatality has been reported from the federal capital in the past 24 hours while three patients fully recovered.

Among those who tested positive in the federal capital was a technician in the orthopaedic laboratory of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), the largest tertiary care hospital in the city.

After the infection was confirmed, the hospital’s management sealed the orthopaedic operation theatre as a preventive measure.

Sources in Pims said all 25 members of the department, including medics and paramedics, have been quarantined at the Pims’ hostel. Their swab samples have been dispatched to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for testing.

Attendant booked

The Rawalpindi police have registered an FIR for the altercation between doctors and attendants of a suspected COVID-19 patient at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH).

Rawal SP Roy Mazhar said that a suspected Covid-19 patient was brought to the hospital along with her mother. The family of the patient alleged that doctors at the facility harassed the ailing patient after which the patient’s mother slapped a doctor.

This caused an altercation to ensue and doctors refused to work until the woman was booked.

Police were called in who took the woman to the Waris Khan police station where she was booked for interference in state affairs.

The family of the patient claimed that they were educated and can never think of slapping a health worker and blamed the medical staff for unprofessional attitude.

Turned back

With the lockdown for Covid-19 extended for another 15 days, the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) on Thursday banned the entry of all outsiders in the federal capital. As a result, there were reports that police started turning back everyone travelling to the federal capital without distinguishing between those going to their workplaces and those out frivolously.

As a result, dozens of federal and district government employees found themselves stuck at Faizabad. Most of them were diverted to Club Road from Murree Road owing to which they had to face difficulties in reaching their workplaces.

The government employees demanded that the district administration clarify if they had to stay at home until April 14 or else instruct the police to let them through.

Subsequently, police officials said that they had established pickets at 72 different entry points of the city, adding that all those venturing out of their homes aimlessly were being sent back, but not employees of essential services.

They added that the government had launched the home delivery of essential items after which there was no reason for people to come out of their homes except for emergencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2020.