Rawalpindi: The highest number of patients who tested positive for coronavirus, COVID-19 in one day was reported here in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday since the outbreak struck the country in the last 24 hours, as many as 80 more patients have been confirmed positive for this disease with the total number of patients confirmed to be 874 in the twin cities.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Friday revealed that in the past 24 hours, as many as 50 new patients had tested positive for COVID-19 from the district, bringing the total number of confirmed patients so far reported from Rawalpindi to 531. The first patient in the district it was tested positive for COVID-19 here at Benazir Bhutto Hospital on March 20. The 24-year-old male patient has reached Pakistan from Dubai.

Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, 30 other patients tested positive for COVID-19 in the Capital Territory of Islamabad who have taken the total number of patients so far confirmed positive in ICT to 343. The first patient, a 61-year-old man in ICT tested positive in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on February 26. He spent a month in Iran on a pilgrimage (ziaraat).

It is worth mentioning here that on April 1, a total of 42 patients tested positive from Rawalpindi district while 54 from ICT made a total of 96 patients. On Friday, the number had reached 874. As of April 1, only three patients had died of coronavirus in twin cities and all three deaths came from Rawalpindi. To date, a total of 34 confirmed patients have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in the region.

Of the total 531 patients who have so far tested positive from the district, 153 have been discharged after treatment from a health facility while 30 people have lost their lives, said Executive District Officer (Health) Dr. Sohail Ahmed Chaudhary when speaking with ‘News’ on Friday.

He added that 93 confirmed patients of the disease had been isolated in their homes in the district while 255 patients were confirmed to have been treated at a health facility in the city designated for corona management.

He said a total of four health care facilities including the Corona Management Center at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Pakistan Red Crescent Rawalpindi and a field hospital at the Shahbaz Sharif Sports Complex have worked to manage COVID-19 patients in the district while Holy Hospital The family will also make the nation function.

Speaking of people in quarantine, he said three people from the ‘Tableeghi Jamaat’ were under quarantine at the Zakariya Mosque in Westridge Rawalpindi while 11 at the Taxila Engineering and Technology University. The health department is waiting for their results, he said.

Another 987 people were quarantined in their homes while 274 people had completed the quarantine period, he said. On Friday, 348 active cases of COVID-19 were being treated in the district.

In ICT, out of a total of 343 confirmed patients, 44 have recovered and four have died from the disease. On Friday, there were a total of 295 active cases in ICT according to the National Command and Control Center.