Says Lahore currently biggest victim of virus with positivity ratio of 11.7%
Staff Reporter
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Monday warned that the number of patients increasing in the fourth wave of Covid-19.
“In last 24 hours 1,609 new cases surfaced in Punjab, while 24 coronavirus patients were died,” health minister said in a media briefing.
Presently 72 percent Covid patients have been on ventilators in hospitals, Yasmin Rashid further said.
“We are vaccinating 500,000 to 700,000 people on a daily basis in Punjab and working to attain a daily target of one million vaccinations,” the health minister said.
“We will get rid of the pandemic if 70 percent people will be vaccinated by December this year,” health minister said.
“In Rawalpindi 44pc eligible population has been vaccinated so far,” Dr Yasmin Rashid said and added that the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology have treated 3,800 patients.
She informed that mostly the unvaccinated people are being infected by the virus, while 15 percent patients have got one dose of the vaccine. “In hospitals 85 to 88 percent patients have been unvaccinated.
The infection has been less intense in patients that have been vaccinated,” Dr Yasmin Rashid said.
The Health Minister said that Pakistan, like the rest of the world, is suffering from the fourth wave of corona and the only way to prevent corona is vaccination as 88% of the patients infected with Covid virus in the fourth wave are those who have not been vaccinated against coronavirus.
She said that Lahore is currently the biggest victim of corona in Punjab where the rate of positive cases is 11.7%, Faisalabad and Multan also have 9.1% positive cases of corona and in Gujranwala it is 8%.
She said that in order to revive the economy, Punjab has set a target of vaccinating 70% of the population against corona by December.
She said various measures have been taken to vaccinate the public against Corona including a micro plan under which teams visit people at their homes and persuaded them to get vaccinated and more than 200,000 people of Punjab have been vaccinated under the micro plan.
Dr Yasmeen Rashid said that the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology will be fully operational by June 2022 as this hospital is needed in the area and its early operation is essential for Rawalpindi and the entire region.
She said that machinery worth Rs. 450 million has been procured for RIU, including 30 dialysis machines and a litho-trypsy machine.
Dr. Yasmeen Rashid said that the pressure of corona patients is increasing in Lahore, 731 corona patients have been admitted in the provincial capital out of which 531 are in government hospitals and 72% of ventilator beds are occupied.
