Two more die of coronavirus in Rawalpindi
Two novel coronavirus patients lost their battle against the deadly disease at the Holy Family Hospital on Thursday in Rawalpindi while the number of patients on ventilators has also increased, a spokesperson said. He stated that there is a fear of a shortage of ventilators given a rise in cases in the twin cities.
Moreover, with an addition of 317 more Covid-positive cases in a day, the number of total patients has reached 17,002 in the city. Among these, 15,547 belong to Rawalpindi and the remaining to other districts of the division.
According to a daily situation report issued by the district administration, 14,502 patients contracting the virus have been discharged so far after their recovery while remaining under treatment at hospitals or quarantined at homes.
"Presently, 201 confirmed patients were admitted to various facilities of the city, including 26 at Holy Family Hospital, 32 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 102 at the Institute of Urology, 31 at Fauji Foundation Hospital, three at Rukhsana Memorial Hospital and two at Hearts International Hospital," it added.
The report also stated that 20 patients on ventilators are in critical condition while 75 patients are stable and 101 are in moderate condition.
Meanwhile, as many as 31,809 frontline healthcare workers and senior citizens in Islamabad have been vaccinated so far as the government paced up the immunisation process for citizens against the deadly virus. Some 51,671 people have registered themselves for the vaccine while 41,393 are scheduled to receive it in the coming weeks.
According to official figures, 4,380 people out of 5,781 registered received the jabs at Capital Development Authority (CDA) Hospital while 9,193 out of 11,902 registered healthcare workers and elderly people were vaccinated at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
Further, 2,472 of 4,761 registered individuals have been administered the vaccine at Poly Clinic Hospital (PCH) along with 1,031 of 1,996 registered people at Bhara Kahu Rural Health Centre (RCH). Similarly, the number of registered people immunised at Tarlai RCH is 5,125 out of 6,034 registrations while 2,574 of 5,690 at Federal General Hospital Chak Shehzad received the vaccine jabs as well.
Moreover, the number of people administered the vaccine at Sihala RCH is 508 out of 2,151 registrations while 469 of 1,1155 registered vaccine candidates have been administered the jabs at Akbar S Niazi Hospital. At the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, 984 registered people of a total of 3,010 have been given the vaccine while 1,062 of 1,694 were immunised at Kulsoom Hospital.
Isolation Hospital and Infections Treatment Centre has vaccinated 367 of the 1,346 registered people while Quaid-i-Azam Hospital has administered the vaccine to 1,228 individuals out of 1,867. Similarly, 397 senior citizens and healthcare workers out of the 1,193 registered have received vaccine doses at Social Security Hospital whereas 600 of the 1,891 registered candidates were vaccinated at CDA Medical Centre.
Furthermore, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hamza Shafqaat stated in a video message that the business activities will remain suspended either on Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday. He urged the traders to unanimously decide which option suited them better after which they would apprise National Command Operation Centre and issue a notification.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2021.