Pindi refuses to lift Covid-19 emergency

Taxila hotel sealed after 20 staffers test positive there

RAWALPINDI:

Even though beds at dedicated warts in public hospitals of Rawalpindi lying empty, the district administration has decided to maintain a novel coronavirus (Covid-19) emergency.

The emergency has been maintained after a cluster of 20 cases emerged from a hotel in neighbouring Taxila.

The district health department on Monday, while advocating for an extension in the emergency, stated that it was mandatory to implement precautionary standard operating procedures (SOPs) as it warned of another outbreak of the pandemic virus which has so far claimed 280 lives apart from infecting 7,715 people in the district.

With another eight cases reported on Monday, the department further said that it continues to conduct random sampling in the garrison city regularly and imposing ‘micro’ lockdowns.

New cluster?

Fears of a cluster of Covid-19 cases was sparked on Monday after 20 cases were confirmed from a hotel in Taxila.

District Health Authority (DHA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Sohail Ahmed said that they had sealed off the establishment while health teams have gained access to the family of these infected people.

He stressed that there is an incorrect perception that the pandemic has waned, emphasising that it is critical to continue using face masks and hand sanitisers apart from following other prescribed SOPs to curb the spread of the virus, especially in public places.

On random sampling in the district, the health official said that their teams are collecting up to 1,500 swab samples from randomly selected individuals across the district for testing.

He added that some 300 random samples were also collected from different Imambargahs during Ashura congregations and processions. These samples have been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for tests.

Dr Ahmed further explained that they targeted public spots and commercial areas for their sample collection to obtain a sample from a wider cross-section of the city’s population.

Cases rise again in Attock

After a brief fall in their numbers, new Covid-19 cases have started to rise in the district.

At least five new cases in the district were confirmed on Monday, taking its overall tally to 615. Attock District Focal Person for Covid-19 Dr Asif Arbab Niazi, while quoting official data, said that the new cases had been reported from different parts of the district, including Attock city, Hazro and Pindigheb.

With the five new confirmed cases, he said that the number of active patients in the district had gone up to 28.

Dr Niazi further said that the number of suspected Covid-19 cases in the district has increased to 8,384, while they have screened as many as 11,883 people. As many as 6,353 people have tested negative so far while they are awaiting results of as many as 1,418 suspected patients in the area.

The district health official said that while new cases continue to be reported, the number of recovered patients in the district is also increasing, with as many as 563 patients having recovered from this deadly disease across the district.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM DNA

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2020.