ISLAMABAD: The positivity rate of Covid-19 dropped to 1pc as only 34 people were found infected on Sunday. Health officials said over 15,000 people are being vaccinated daily and they are hopeful that the target of 70pc to 80pc vaccination would be achieved in July.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia told repoters that 34 new cases were detected against 3,226 tests on Sunday.

“Moreover, the positivity rate in the city, which was around 11pc a few months ago, has dropped to 1pc. It is the lowest positivity during the third wave of the pandemic,” he said.

Replying to a question, Dr Zia said 500,000 vaccines were administered in the federal capital. He expressed the hope that the target of 80pc vaccination would be achieved in July.

He said as things were going in the right direction, he was focusing on the polio vaccination to cover maximum children.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), who is not authorised to speak on record, said there was a huge pressure and demand for the Pfizer vaccine.

“We have formulated standard operating procedures under which only those who have to go abroad or those suffering from serious diseases such as cancer can be inoculated with Pfizer,” he said.

On the other hand, it is a good news that over 500,000 people have been partially or completely vaccinated. A large number of people have got Cansino, which is a single dose vaccine, so they don’t require the second dose.

One patient died, 24 people tested positive while 31 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery in the last 24 hours.

According to a report presented to the Punjab government on Sunday, 258,736 tested negative while 26,625 people were found infected and 987 people died of the virus in the Rawalpindi district since March 2020 to June 13, 2021.

The positivity rate in the district remained 6.91pc from March 2020 to June 13, 2021. However, on Sunday, 24 out of 928 suspected patients tested positive showing a positivity rate of 2.57pc.

Manzoorun Nisa, 67, a resident of Murree, was brought to Polyclinic Hospital on June 12 where she died on Sunday.

There are 302 active patients in the district. As many as 47 patients are in hospitals and 255 home isolated. Moreover, 801 patients are waiting for the results of their Covid-19 serology.

Officials said six of the new cases were reported from the cantonment, nine from Potohar Town, six from Rawal Town, one patient each from Taxila and Gujar Khan.

Of the new patients, 11 were admitted in Holy Family Hospital, eight in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH), 15 in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology (RIU), 16 in Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) and one in Hearts International Hospital.

There are three patients on ventilators, 34 on oxygen and 14 are stable.