Islamabad continues to see downward trend of Covid-19
Zubair Qureshi
Whether it is because of lockdown being strictly enforced in the federal capital or the ongoing vaccination of citizens Islamabad continues to see significant decline in new cases of Covid-19.
According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC), the federal capital on Wednesday reported 178 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the last twenty-four hours. This shows the positivity rate of Covid-19 is around 5.7 per cent in the capital city.
Besides, two people lost their lives to Covid-19 taking the number of overall deaths due to virus to 718.
The federal capital’s total score of Covid-19 cases has jumped to 78,560 while 67,811 persons have recovered from coronavirus since its outbreak.
Director General Health, Islamabad, Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar told Pakistan Observer on Wednesday that until May 11, 200,359 persons were administered vaccine in the federal capital and another 20,000 to 25,000 are expected to add to this number in next 24 hours.
Besides, the mobile teams are visiting homes in the rural and the urban areas to administer jabs to the handicapped or elderly persons.
We have witnessed a significant reduction in number of cases but this is largely attributable to strict Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPI) like enforcement in larger cities and observance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for coronavirus, further said Dr Safdar.
Despite these good signs, there is no space to relax as virus is all around. Just a little carelessness can put us in difficult situation like India, he warned advising caution and utmost care.
In Islamabad the health authorities have so far conducted 1.5 million tests that is a huge number, he said.
Meanwhile, according to the District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia vaccination centres are working in double shifts, morning and evening, like the rest of the country to administer jabs to the citizens.
From Sunday, May 16, we are launching registration of the 30-year old and above persons for their vaccination in accordance with the NCOC decision.
To a question, Dr Zaeem Zia said the public response in the beginning was somewhat cautious but after an increasing number of population decided to go for vaccination now the people are arriving in bulk for vaccination. However, he dismissed the news of long waiting or queues at the vaccination centres.
“Our efficient staff and well-trained teams are deployed at all the centres in the urban as well as the rural areas of Islamabad to assist, guide and administer jabs to the visitors,” said Dr Zaeem.
Moreover, DHO mobile teams are also administering jabs door-to-door for those who cannot visit their nearest centres due to medical conditions, he added.
