Coronavirus in Pakistan: Number of critical patients surges past 2,000

ISLAMABAD: As the coronavirus second wave spreads deeper into community, the number of critical patients in Pakistan has crossed 2,000.

The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) data shows that as of 8:00am on November 27, the number of critical patients stands at 2,112 - out of which 144 were reported in the past 24 hours. 

For the third consecutive day, the country has recorded over 3,000 cases. This brings the total infection tally to 389,311. At least 54 people have died in just one day, raising the death toll to 7,897.

 There are 45,533 active cases across Pakistan. 

Read more: Coronavirus cases in Pakistan and abroad on November 27

No vacant beds in ICU

A recent report in The News states that nine leading public, private and charity hospitals in Karachi have no vacant beds in their intensive care units (ICUs) reserved for critically sick COVID-19 patients.

These hospitals include Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Aga Khan University Hospital, Infectious Diseases Hospital NIPA, Liaquat National Hospital (LNH), Patel Hospital, Indus Hospital, Ziauddin Hospital’s Clifton Branch, National Medical Centre (NMC) and South City Hospital.

The report said Sindh Health Department data showed these hospital had altogether 137 ICU beds - with and without ventilators - but none of them were vacant. 

However, data of 31 hospitals showed that there are 452 ICU beds in the city out of which 215 beds are vacant. Most of the vacant ICU beds are in hospitals which have not started taking patients yet or which people are not even aware of. 

High positivity rate

According to NCOC, highest positivity rate was observed in Peshawar at 19.65% while Karachi is second at 17.73% and Hyderabad third with 16.32%.

Lahore and Rawalpindi positivity rate stands at 4.52% and 11.49% respectively while the province's rate is 3.59%. Positivity rate in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad recorded at 13.25%, 9.25% and 5.84%.

Quetta is 9.77% while overall rate in Balochistan is 6.41%. Mirpur and Muzaffarabad positivity rates stand at 14.97% and 10.34% while Azad Jammu and Kashmir's is 10.79%. In Gilgit, the case positivity rate is 9.26% and the region's cumulative rate stands at 4.81%.