Alarming Surge in Coronavirus Cases in Multan and Rawalpindi

In recent news, Rawalpindi and Multan are witnessing an alarming surge in Covid-19 cases. The virus positivity rate in both these cities has risen to 6 and 7 percent, respectively. For the first time in the past three months, a rising trend has been noticed in the number of patients. 

Similarly, in Lahore, the positivity rate is now at 3pc. The rising number of patients in the cultural capital of Pakistan has also alarmed the health authorities. Just recently, people had been warned to strictly adhere to coronavirus SOPs due to the beginning of the ‘second wave’ of the virus. 

The coronavirus cabinet committee had a meeting to discuss the current situation. Official data had been presented, which indicated that the overall percentage of the coronavirus positivity has risen to 2pc in the province of Punjab. Just a couple of months ago, the ratio in this particular province was around 0.1pc only. 

The health department released a new update on the coronavirus cases on Thursday. It showed that 338 more people had been infected in Punjab in the last 24 hours. This was a record number since the 23rd of July, which recorded a total of 313 new cases with five Covid-19 related deaths. 

The official data indicated that the virus had claimed five lives, all of whom had been in critical condition, in the province of Punjab. This had happened in a time span of only 24 hours. 

A senior official of the health department also informed the public that according to recent reports, the second wave of the coronavirus has officially begun. He said that the large cities of the province of Punjab are particularly concerned since the positivity ratio is continuously climbing. 

Moreover, he stated that the infectivity rate of Covid-19 in Punjab had doubled in only the first week of November. On the 26th of September, it had been recorded at 1pc. Consequently, the transmission rate of the virus in Lahore has now shot up to 3pc from 0.1pc, recorded on the 1st of October. 

The positivity rate of the coronavirus on the 1st of October was 2pc in both Rawalpindi and Multan. However, due to the rising coronavirus cases, the two cities have witnessed a rise in pc in the first week of November alone. 

The report and data presented to the cabinet committee in the meeting indicated that educational institutions are also a cause for concern. Schools, colleges, universities, and relevant institutions in Punjab have recorded a positivity rate of 0.17pc. 

All private labs in the country, which are also conducting coronavirus tests on a daily basis, reported that they have observed an upward trend in the positivity ratio of the country. 

In addition, the report outlined that the disease is also now infecting a larger number of health professionals who are attending to patients. 

As per the report, the number of health professionals who have tested positive for the virus in the last two weeks is 25. This includes 13 doctors, six nurses, and six paramedics.