Daily Times

NCOCAs many as 58 more people succumbed to coronavirus across the country during the past 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 8,361, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday.

As many as 3,308 new cases of the coronavirus were reported across the country during the past 24 hours, pushing the national tally of infections to 416,499.

According to the NCOC, a total of 41,645 samples were tested in the previous 24 hours, out of which 3,308 turned out to be positive. The NCOC said that the national positivity ratio for coronavirus has surged to 7.94 percent.

According to the latest data, the highest positivity ratio was observed in Mirpur with 22 percent, followed by Karachi with 17.39 percent and Peshawar with 16.02 percent.

The positivity ratio in AJK stands at 10.83 percent, 11.62 percent in Balochistan, 2.68 percent in GB, 6.16 percent in Islamabad, 11.29 percent in KP, 4.42 percent in Punjab, and 11.47 percent in Sindh.

The number of active cases has risen to 53,126 while 2,483 people recuperated from the disease during the last 24 hours, taking the tally of those defeating the highly contagious pathogen to 355,000.

Out of 8,361 died of Covid-19 across the country, 3,011 died in Sindh, 3,162 in Punjab, 1,404 in KP, 340 people in ICT, 169 in Balochistan, 98 in GB: 98, and 177 in AJK.

In Balochistan, at least 48 more people contracted coronavirus in Balochistan during the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 17,440.

According to health officials, no deaths were reported in the province. So far 169 people have succumbed to the disease. As many as 16,663 people have recovered from the disease so far.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, at least 11 more Covid-19 cases emerged during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 4,719. According to health officials, no deaths were reported in the region. So far 98 people have succumbed to the disease. Three more patients recovered from the disease in the region as the total reached 4,468.

Meanwhile, the administration of Islamabad on Sunday sealed the inner hall of Shah Faisal Mosque because of the violations of coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) going on at the site. The congregational prayers will not be offered in the inner hall of the mosque.

The decision was taken after precautionary measures were not followed during the Friday prayers two days ago, the administration confirmed.

The Punjab government has issued orders to make all field hospitals on divisional level functional including Lahore’s Expo Field Hospital amid raging second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The positivity rate in Lahore has increased from seven to 10 percent within one week.

Punjab government has also directed divisional administrations of Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Multan to make the field hospitals functional in their limit. The government has also decided to re-allocate ventilators and oxygen beds for novel coronavirus patients.

The Chief Secretary has been issued instructions for an effective implementation of the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) from next week. The chief minister of Punjab has also ordered the finance department to allocate funds for the field hospitals across the province.

The Punjab government had earlier issued an alert to major hospitals of Lahore in view of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. According to the notification, Expo Centre’s Hall Number 2 will be made functional for coronavirus patients in Lahore. The health authorities have prepared a 300-bed high-dependency unit (HDU) at the field hospital where patients with breathing problems will be admitted.

The administrations of Mayo Hospital, Services Hospital, Jinnah Hospital, General Hospital have also been directed to take immediate steps to operationalise the HDUs and intensive care units (ICUs) at the same level as it was functioning in June.

Also, in another development Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) said on Sunday that 2,770 health officials including 1,240 doctors have been infected by Covid-19 in the province so far.

The PDA highlighting infections in the provincial healthcare sector stated that 398 nurses contracted novel coronavirus while working on the front line. Moreover, 1,132 other provincial health workers were infected by the disease, the PDA said in a statement.

During the pandemic 43 health workers, including four nurses, have been martyred by a novel coronavirus infection. “Eight paramedics and six other healthcare workers were also martyred by the Covid-19 in KP,” the doctors body said.

The doctors body complained that the families of the martyred health workers are yet to be given the martyrs package. The doctors and other health workers have also been deprived of the corona risk allowance, announced by the government.

It is pertinent to mention here that the number of staff with coronavirus at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad has risen to 200. The PIMS Spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja said recently that none of them was in critical condition. Two more wards at the hospital have been converted into isolation wards.

Earlier, the outpatient department at Islamabad’s PIMS was shut down due to rising coronavirus cases among the staff. The number then was at 181. Khawaja had said that they have suspended routine operations and are only handling emergency cases. Three weeks ago, the hospital administration shut down all surgeries at the hospital. Emergency cases and cancer treatment remain exempted.