Islamabad, Rawalpindi witness more deaths as COVID-19 rampages through Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 29 : As the second wave of the COVID-19 rampages through Pakistan, Islamabad and Rawalpindi are reporting an increase in casualties due to the virus.
Five people lost their lives while another 558 people contracted COVID-19 in the twin cities on Saturday with Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) authorities revealing that several children were among the patients, reported Dawn.
A separate ward had to be established in the Children's Hospital to accommodate the children who were displaying severe symptoms, while 95 more beds were allocated in Islamabad's hospital for treatment of coronavirus patients.
PIMS Joint Executive Director Dr Minhajus Siraj said that during the first wave of the pandemic, no child had been kept under observation of the doctors or provided oxygen, however now children needing more oxygen have also started coming to the hospital.
He also added that COVID-19 patients were coming to the hospital at an advanced stage with their lungs compromised.
There are 326 patients admitted to these hospitals, including 181 residents of Islamabad. In the last 24 hours, 7,446 tests were conducted and 440 of them were contacts of positive cases, reported Dawn.
Three patients died and 111 people tested positive for COVID-19 in different areas of Rawalpindi.
Dawn reported that a total of 1,283 patients are under treatment including 249 in Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, and Benazir Bhutto Hospital.
Commissioner retired Capt Mohammad Mehmood said 477 people died in Rawalpindi Division - 395 in Rawalpindi, 22 in Attock, 10 in Jhelum, and 50 in Chakwal.
Meanwhile, Taxila saw another spike of COVID-19 positive cases during the last 24 hours as 17 more people got infected on Saturday.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Pakistan's COVID-19 tally stands at 395,185, along with 7,895 deaths.