Coronavirus alert issued for Pindi hospitals

125 more Covid cases surface during last 24 hours

RAWALPINDI:

Three major hospitals of Rawalpindi have been put on alert after a large number of coronavirus cases surfaced in the districts over the last few days amid the spread of the new Omicron variant

Amidst the constant rise in coronavirus cases, the Punjab health department has directed the management of the three allied hospitals in Rawalpindi and the Institute of Urology Hospital to make the arrangements on an emergency basis.

The health department has issued an alert to arrange wards, staff and extra oxygen kits in all the major hospitals after the constant increase in the number of cases of the deadly Omicron virus.

Health officials and the district administration will soon hold a meeting and work out a plan to implement coronavirus SOPs in all public places, officials said adding that campaigns would be launched to create awareness of maintaining social distance and using masks in public places.

Health officials said that four patients of Omicron varient are currently undergoing treatment in Rawalpindi. All the patients have been quarantined at home, and the screening of all the people who had come in contact with them was also under way. The officials said that the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology Hospital has already been accorded the status of coronavirus hospital by the Punjab government.

The doctors and staff, who had been sent back to their respective hospitals after the coronavirus cases decreased, have been called back to the RIUT. Officials said that the allied hospitals in Rawalpindi had ample stock of oxygen kits and additional stock of oxygen will be procured from private companies to deal with any emergency.

Meanwhile, as many as 125 more patients were tested positive of the fatal coronavirus during the last 24 hours in the district Rawalpindi.

Of them, 36 hailed from Rawalpindi Cantonment areas, 27 from Rawal Town, 28 from Potohar Town, 12 from Taxila, three of each from Kahutta and Chakwal and one from Kallar Syeda.

According to the daily situation report issued by the district corona management centre on Friday, 33 coronavirus confirmed patients were admitted to six health facilities, including 12 to the Fauji Foundation Hospital, nine to the Institute of Urology, eight to Benazir Bhutto Hospital, two to Attock Hospital and one to the District Headquarters Hospital.

The report said that three patients were on ventilators in critical condition, nine were stable and 21 were on double oxygen support.

Around 4,743,702 people, including 44,561 health workers, had so far been vaccinated against the fatal disease since the start of the vaccination drive from March 10, 2021. The district health authority said that 38,379 patients had been discharged after recovery.

Of 40,042 tested positives so far, adding 439 were quarantined, including 406 at homes and 33 in the isolation centres. In addition, the report said that during the last 24 hours, 1,660 samples were collected, out of which 1,535 were declared negative, while the positivity rate was recorded at 7.53 per cent.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2022.