Covid costs Lahore 10 lives a day

Health authorities alarmed over Delta variant threat

LAHORE:

Over 200 of 495 deaths caused by coronavirus in Punjab during the ongoing month have been reported in Lahore.

The infection rate also remained high across the province with 29,654 patients tested positive for coronavirus in the 36 districts during past 20 days.

Amid the highest ratio of deaths and new patients during fourth wave of disease, five districts of Punjab, including Lahore, have been declared high risk areas with respect to the pandemic.

While grappling with an unrelenting ongoing wave of the pandemic, officials of the health department are alarmed over the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in all districts of Punjab.

The department has confirmed that around 80 per cent of the deaths caused by cpronavirus during the month were due to the Delta variant. In the hospitals, about 90% of the patents admitted for treatment of the infection have contracted the same variant.

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According to the data of the provincial health department, 495 deaths caused by Covid-19 were confirmed in all 36 districts of Punjab in the past 20 days, including 201 in Lahore.

"The ratios of deaths and new patients were higher than expected since the beginning of the month. The highest number of patients in a day was recorded on September 8 at 1,955. The earlier highest figure during the ongoing wave of the pandemic was 1,941 on September 4," said a senior official of the department.

Among the patients suffering from coronavirus admitted to the government and private hospitals, almost 90% had contracted the Delta variant.

The official said 44 people died due to Covid-19 in the province on September 2. He said that along with the measures required at the government level to handle the situation, lack of implementation of the SOPs was a major reason of increase in patients and deaths.

"The numbers of active cases is also increasing speedily and at the moment there are more than 22,000 active cases of coronavirus in the hospitals in Punjab. In several districts the Corona Wards are reported to be full," the official said.

"There is 5.4% overall coronavirus positive test ratio in all districts of Punjab. In Lahore the ratio is 7.7 per cent, Rawalpindi 7.8 per cent, Faisalabad 8.1 and Multan 8.3%," said Imran Sikandar Baloch, the Secretary of Primary and Secondary Healthcare.

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He stressed the need to follow the SOPs. "Peoples above15 years of age should get vaccinated as it is the safest way of protection from coronavirus. In last 24 hours, 11 deaths were confirmed in Punjab with 990 new patients," he said.

"Punjab government is doing its best to handle the situations and due to its efforts we have controlled the alarming situation.

For last one week the situation has been better as the ratio of patients and deaths has decreased," claimed provincial health department spokesman Syed Hammad Raza while speaking to The Express Tribune.

However, the spokesman added that the risk posed by the virus persisted, advising the people to stay away from public gatherings and wear mask.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a senior official of the provincial health department said, “We now believe that the country, especially Punjab, is in the grip of the Delta variant of coronavirus.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2021.