135 govt doctors, nurses down with Covid-19

The situation of hospitals in the Rawalpindi district presents a grim picture with 135 doctors and nurses in four government hospitals testing positive for coronavirus during the ongoing fifth wave of the pandemic so far.

As many as 34 doctors and 14 nurses of District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi, 16 doctors and 11 nurses in Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 20 doctors and 17 nurses in Holy Family Hospital and 23 doctors and nurses of Cantonment General Hospital are down with the ailment.

The last 24 hours have seen the positivity ratio of Covid-19 in the general public of Rawalpindi climb up to 16.48 per cent, with the presence of the virus confirmed in 278 more people in the said duration.

With the closure of an agricultural university due to the fast-spreading disease, the number of educational institutions across the district closing their doors for in-person classes has reached 51.

Due to limited capacity in government hospitals, a large number of patients—reportedly 3,052—are isolating at home.

As many as 91 patients are under treatment in seven hospitals, with six of them on the ventilator, 48 on double oxygen and 37 reporting stable condition. The total number of patients having recovered from coronavirus in the district stands at 36,376 while 1,237 have succumbed to the disease.

The majority of people contracting the virus belong to Rawalpindi Cantonment, Pothohar Town and Rawal Town.

Reportedly, some 4,885,543 people across the district have been vaccinated against Covid-19, with the figures including 44,584 health workers.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2022.