Campaign to identify coronavirus spread in capital's slum areas begins.

Byline: Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD -- Capital authorities on Monday began a campaign to identify the spread of the coronavirus in high-risk slums and informal settlements in the capital.

Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) Health Services Director General Dr Hasan Orooj told Dawn that surveys carried out under the Trace, Test and Quarantine (TTQ) policy only cover upscale localities of the capital and do not include Islamabad residents who live in slums.

'There are 34 slums in the capital, of which 18 are legal. We have decided to hold a campaign in 10 slums and around 1,000 tests will be carried out in 10 days,' he said.

Dr Orooj said that out of concern that they may face refusals, similar to polio vaccinations, the local government has been involved and union council chairmen have been directed to persuade people to agree to get tested and to provide sites where samples may be collected because of the number of standard operating procedures that need to be enforced while doing so.

Surveys under Trace, Test and Quarantine policy only cover upscale sectors, MCI Health Services DG says

The campaign began on Monday in 48 Quarters, G-7/3. It aims to cover one slum every day.

56 beds for Covid-19 patients occupied at Pims

Of the 212 beds allocated for patients of Covid-19 at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), 56 are currently occupied.

The hospital has tested 8,847 people for the disease for free, of which a quarter - 2,080 - were positive. Of the 56 Covid-19 patients admitted to Pims, 10 are on ventilators, and 100 patients have died of the disease at the hospital so far.

There has been criticism all over the country about the lack of space for Covid-19 patients in hospitals, many of whom have been turned away from healthcare facilities after being told there are no beds available for them.

Pims media coordinator Dr Waseem Khawaja told Dawn on Monday that while more than 2,000 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 at the hospital, this does not mean they all...