7-day old baby contracts virus from mother, put on vent in PIMS
Zubair Qureshi
The federal capital on Monday reported 856 cases of Covid-19 during the last twenty-four hours taking the overall number of cases to 56,450 in the city.
This has been recorded the highest number of single-day cases in Islamabad since the outbreak of Covid-19 last year.
The new surge in the number of cases has alarmed the health and the district administration authorities of the federal capital as never before the capital had experienced such a spike in cases.
On Monday, a seven-day baby was reported to have contracted Covid-19 from his mother who was a coronavirus patient.
The infant, on ventilator support in the ICU of Children’s Hospital is 5,497th case of Covid-19 in pre-teens.
With this new born testing positive, the number of children under 10 suffering from Covid-19 has reached 5,000 in Islamabad, the health authorities confirmed to Pakistan Observer.
The infant, born only a week ago, is under-treatment at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), said the spokesperson of the hospital.
His mother’s report also showed she contracted the virus before delivering the child and doctors think the virus transferred to the newborn through mother.
The capital administration has already imposed lockdown in a number of areas including Bhara Kahu, DHA (Phase II Sector B & E), Pakistan Town (Phase I), Bahria Town (II & III), Sohan Garden (Block B), Korang Town, National Police Foundation (NPF) Block A, PWD Colony (Block C), subsectors of Sector G-6, G-8, G-9, G-10 and I-8 in order to prevent spread of Covid-19.
District health officer (DHO) of Islamabad Dr Zaeem Zia in a post on social media cautioned the daily cases reaching more than 800 is a sign of ‘red alert’ and reminds us how important is following the SOPs.
The 856 cases were reported after 5,359 tests in the capital with a percentage 16.20 pc. “Never seen this high! Follow SOPs! Everything doesn’t have to be imposed, do that as civic responsibility too,” said he in his post.
Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat and SSP Operations Dr Mustafa Tanveer a day earlier visited different areas and held a media conference.
The DC said positivity of cases in the capital had reached 12pc and there were 6,000 active cases which was why strict action had to be taken.
“We have banned all kinds of activities. A number of hot spots have been identified in the city and that is why areas have been sealed.
We have been trying to reduce positivity by 6pc by Ramazan,” he said, adding there is a complete ban on political gatherings and private school associations will not be allowed to hold a long march.
Hamza Shafqaat said all schools have been asked not to conduct exams and in case of violation, action will be taken against principals.
“Police, which is also being infected, will ensure that the lockdown is implemented.
Moreover, we have decided to reduce intercity public transport by 30pc and will ensure that SOPs are followed in public transport. The aim is to reduce number of cases,” he added.
