79 test positive for corona

Islamabad : The number of patients being tested positive for coronavirus illness, COVID-19 from Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi district has started registering a sharp increase as in the last 24 hours, another 79 patients have been tested positive for the infection from the twin cities though the virus claimed no life from the region.

Alarming is the fact that the number of COVID-19 Omicron variant cases is also on the rise though in ICT at least at the time. To date, as many as 141 Omicron variant cases have been reported from the federal capital. According to District Health Officer ICT Dr. Muhammad Zaeem Zia, 23 new cases of COVID-19 Omicron variant have been reported from Islamabad in the last 24 hours.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Wednesday reveals that in the last 24 hours, a total of 57 new cases of COVID-19 were reported from ICT of which 23 were diagnosed as Omicron variant cases. The positivity rate of COVID-19 in the twin cities has also started showing an upward trend as it has been recorded as well over 1.5 per cent in the last 24 hours.

It is also alarming that both the number of confirmed cases and the number of active cases from the twin cities are on a sharp increase for the last five days or so. As many as 320 new cases have been reported from ICT and Rawalpindi district in the last five days. The number of active cases from the region has jumped to 510 on Wednesday that was around 380 by the end of the year 2021.

To date, a total of 108,880 patients have been reported positive from ICT of which 107,508 have recovered while 967 have lost their lives due to the illness. The number of active cases of coronavirus illness from the federal capital has been recorded as 405 after the addition of 26 active cases to the existing pool.

On the other hand, 22 new patients have been tested positive from Rawalpindi district in the last 24 hours taking the tally to 36,582 of which 1,224 patients have lost their lives while 35,253 patients have recovered.

After the addition of 17 active cases to the existing pool in the last 24 hours, the number of active cases from the district has jumped to 105. On Wednesday, as many as 14 confirmed patients from the district were undergoing treatment at the healthcare facilities in town while 91 patients were in home isolation.