Seven die of Covid in Nishtar Hospital
A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a man amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), at a testing center in New Delhi, India October 29, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS
The coronavirus death toll in Multan has climbed to 288 with seven more patients succumbing to the virus during the last 24 hours in Nishtar Hospital, officials revealed.
The deceased included a 61-year-old woman of Kot Addu and men aged 50, 55, 30, 69, 47, and 55 years.
Dr Irfan Arshad of the hospital said four of the victims hailed from Multan, two from Dera Ghazi Khan and one belonged to Kot Addu. “The victims had been under treatment in the isolation wards of Nishtar Hospital,” he added.
At the present, the hospital houses 64 patients of the pandemic, out of whom at least 20 are in a critical condition. Moreover, four patients have been put on ventilators due to the chronic lung disease.
Sources said that as many as 54 suspected coronavirus patients are under treatment at the hospital.
An analysis of official data shows that that on an average, one person succumbed to Covid-19 per day at the hospital between April 1 and December 3.
Officials at the hospital told The Express Tribune that 3,071 suspected cases of the disease were reported at the Nishtar Hospital, of which 1,133 were confirmed coronavirus positive.
According to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the Covid positivity ratio in diagnostic tests in Punjab stood at 4.2 per cent during the last 24 hours and at least 40 patients in Multan were on ventilator support.
Health workers have urged citizens to stay indoors and practise safety guidelines to prevent virus infliction as the national and provincial Covid positivity ratios soar.
Punjab currently accounts for the majority of deaths caused by the pandemic in the country, the official statistics point out.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2020.