Twin cities witness record rise in virus cases.

Byline: Munawer Azeem and Aamir Yasin

RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD -- The twin cities saw a record rise in Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.

Islamabad witnessed a spike in the number of patients as 49 new cases were reported in a single day, taking the tally to 464.

The number of suspected patients also increased from 1,820 to 1,874 in the capital, officials said.

In Rawalpindi, another 47 people were diagnosed with Covid-19, most of them from the sealed areas of Dhoke Kashmirian and Dhoke Kala Khan as well as Habib Colony in the cantonment area, a locality populated mainly by labourers and cart vendors, adjacent to Westridge III.

Only one patient was discharged after recovering from the disease but no deaths have been reported.

Rawalpindi has had 733 confirmed cases of Covid-19, of which 214 patients have recovered and 36 died. There are currently 482 patients being treated in hospitals and 152 people isolated in their homes.

Another 279 suspected Covid-19 patients were also brought to Rawalpindi's three hospitals whose samples have been sent to the National Institute of Health. Their results will take three to four days.

Officials from the district health authority said 679 people had tested negative for the disease in the last three days.

They said samples from close contacts of confirmed patients have been sent for testing as well.

Local administrations have quarantined 1,414 people who were in contact with confirmed patients; 1,259 people are quarantined at home, 152 in hospitals and three in dedicated facilities.

The results of 136 members of the Tableeghi Jamaat came back negative for Covid-19, while 24 members are isolated in their homes in Rawalpindi.

Sources told Dawn that the Punjab government will open markets in a few days as a result of pressure from traders. They said most of the Covid-19 patients reported in hospitals had come from the city's downtown areas and commercial centres such as Raja Bazaar, Jamia Masjid, Fawara Chowk, Ganjmandi and Gawalmandi.

But Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood said the Punjab government was not in a hurry to open markets. He said the government was making plans to resume business activities with limitations and safety measures.

He said traders associations were worried about their businesses and the government wanted to provide them with a conducive environment, as it cannot afford to feed all segments of society during the lockdown.

'After businesses open, people will find employment and earn a...