Islamabad hospitals struggle to cope with soaring corona cases

Alarm bells are ringing in Islamabad where a higher coronavirus infection rate means hospitals have been overburdened with the arrival of more patients given the fewer number of beds in the currently specified wards, Saba Bajeer reported for 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.

Hence, a constant increase is being witnessed in the coronavirus patients at PIMS (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) – the main health facility in the federal capital.

In this scenario, 29 of them are admitted in Medical Ward 2 along with 24 in Surgical Ward 4 and 18 in another ward established on the hospital’s first floor.

But the problems of these infected people have been multiplied by the fact that several doctors and other staff members are on leave.

Talking about the issue, Dr Fazl-e-Rabi – the president of Young Doctors Association – said they were facing hardships amid the shortage of staff. The PIMS administration had been informed about the lack of beds and doctors/ paramedical staffers amid the rising number of patients some days back, he added.

A total of 24,444 coronavirus cases and 260 deaths have so far been reported in the federal capital since the outbreak of this pandemic.

On Oct 25, the virus was detected in 91 residents of Islamabad but there has been an alarming increase in figures since then with the daily count reaching 461 on Nov 14. Moreover, 48 people died of the virus since then in the city with three of these deaths reported on Monday.

However, the number of cases reported on Nov 15 and Nov 16 dipped to 224 and 226 respectively. But this trend must be sustained in coming days for a long-term positive outlook.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic claimed 33 more lives during the past 24 hours (Monday), raising the death toll across Pakistan to 7,193, showed the latest figures released by National Command and Operation Centre on Tuesday morning.

Punjab reported most of these deaths where 17 coronavirus patients died followed by five in Azad Kashmir, four each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and three in Islamabad.

On the other hand, the number of coronavirus cases reported in the country jumped to 361,082 after another 2,050 people tested positive on Sunday. 

It means over 2,000 new cases have been recorded in the country for the last five days consecutively.

Sindh continued to be the most affected region of the country with 156,528 cases and 2,751 deaths. The details for other provinces and regions are given below:

Punjab 11,047 cases and 2,492 deaths, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 42,615 cases and 1,315 deaths, Islamabad 24,444 cases and 260 deaths, Balochistan 16,449 cases and 156 deaths, Azad Kashmir 5,538 cases and 126 deaths, and Gilgit-Baltistan 4,461 cases and 93 deaths. 

Right now, Pakistan has 29,055 active coronavirus cases which represents a consistent rise along with a similar trend being witnessed in terms of hospitalisation as 1,688 patients are being treated in different health facilities across the country.