Zubair Qureshi
Prof Hassan Azeem Virk, an associate professor of Urdu at the Islamabad Model College for Boys (IMCB) H-9 lost battle against coronavirus on Wednesday. He was diagnosed with coronavirus a few days earlier and had quarantined himself since then. However, upon his health deteriorating, he was shifted to the hospital but he could not survive.
Meanwhile, Islamabad’s state-of-the-art hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), announced on Wednesday it was limiting its medical services for patients due to the sudden increase in number of coronavirus pandemic cases during its second wave in the country. The hospital’s spokesperson said in a statement the central Outpatient Department (OPD) service was being closed with immediate effect except the OPDs for gynaecology and children section.
Dr Waseem Khawaja however made it clear the emergency section of the hospital would be fully functional amid the current situation. The decision for the closure of OPD service was made in view of the rising number of Coronavirus cases and now surgeries will be conducted only in an emergency case. The OPD service will be restored after witnessing improvement in the pandemic situation, added Dr Khawaja.
Meanwhile, according to Islamabad’s health department, the federal capital’s hospitals have reached maximum bed occupancy rate as for the last eight days, more than 400 tests were being reported on a daily basis in the city. On Wednesday, the capital reported 424 new cases of coronavirus in a period of twenty-four hours making the total number of cases reported so far in the federal capital 27,979. Six deaths also took place in one day which again is an alarming figure for the health authorities. So far, Islamabad has seen 291 deaths caused by Covid-19. According to a senior doctor in the Isolation ward of the PIMS, they are now returning the coronavirus patients with the advice to quarantine them at home.
Meanwhile, all the employees of the Chief Commissioner office and office of the DC Islamabad, have been directed to undergo a coronavirus test after 19 positive cases emerged from there. Some of them underwent the Covid-19 test on Wednesday and their samples have been submitted in NIH for reporting. All the staff present have been tested and the positive ones will be isolated, said an official of the ICT. Meanwhile, extensive disinfection has been also carried out in the entire complex, he further said.
