60pc of beds for Covid-19 patients in Pindi hospitals vacant: commissioner.

Byline: Aamir Yasin and Munawer Azeem

RAWALPINDI -- There were 47 more cases of Covid-19 reported in Rawalpindi on Thursday, along with two deaths and no recoveries.

The number of new cases reported daily has been falling in the city, and 60pc of the beds allocated for Covid-19 patients in government hospitals are empty.

But doctors at Rawalpindi hospitals have said that testing has slowed down in Rawalpindi, as the provincial government has not increased the daily testing capacity from 110 to 600.

A District Health Authority official also said that no relatives of confirmed patients have been screened in the city for the last week because of a shortage of testing kits. He said that the target to test 6,692 people last month was not met, with 5,952 tests carried out so far.

However, Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood claimed that the number of new cases is decreasing because of the government's 'smart lockdown' policy. He said there are also fewer patients in hospital high dependency units, with 154 people admitted to the city's four hospitals' units, of whom 52 are stable, 86 are on oxygen and 21 are on ventilators.

He said around 60pc of the beds allocated for Covid-19 treatment in the city's government hospitals are vacant, with 190 out of 790 occupied and 598 empty. 'We can accommodate more patients in case of an emergency,' he added.

Mr Mehmood said the Punjab government was focusing on medical care for critical patients. The recovery rate for Covid-19 in Rawalpindi is 72pc, he said, and the death rate is 5pc.

With Thursday's confirmed cases, there have now been 6,126 cases of Covid-19 reported in Rawalpindi. Of these patients, 4,385 have recovered and 248 have died.

There are 673 patients being treated in hospitals and 820 isolated in their homes.

Another 247 suspected patients are admitted to Rawalpindi's four hospitals and their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Health and the Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Holy Family Hospital laboratories for testing.

A senior district administration official said that 3,239 people have tested negative for Covid-19 and 1,466 have tested positive in the last month.

There have been 4,799 cases reported in Rawalpindi's city and cantonment areas, 246 in Gujar Khan, 254 in Taxila, 70 in Kahuta, 60 in Kotli Sattian, 40 in...

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