LAHORE: With hospitals overwhelmed and a sharp rise in the number of deaths, Pakistan’s delicate health system is bracing for an imminent peak of novel coronavirus cases.
According to sources, the outbreak of COVID-19 in Punjab wreaked havoc, hospitals in Lahore ran out of space, ICUs of hospitals were also filled due to the increasing number of patients.
Sources further said amid a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the city, several Lahore hospitals have run out of oxygen supply.
According to official figures, more than 92% of patients are being treated in ICU beds in hospitals. The occupancy rate of high dependency units has also reached 78.90%. As per statistics, 817 patients are being treated in government hospitals and 438 in private hospitals.
In the city, 239 critically ill patients have been placed on ventilators. 675 critically ill patients are being treated in high-dependency units. 341 infected patients have been kept in isolation wards.
Pakistan reported 149 deaths from the coronavirus on Sunday, making it the country’s highest death toll in a single day since June 29 last year.
This comes a day after Pakistan surpassed the grim milestones of 750,000 cases and 16,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus amid the third wave of the pandemic.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported 6,127 coronavirus cases in the past day as the total number of cases surged to 756,285. There were another 148 deaths from the virus, taking the death toll to 16,243
The total number of active cases has surged to 80,559 while the positivity rate stood at 8.52 percent. There are 4,149 patients who remain in critical condition in hospitals across the country.
