RAWALPINDI:As many as six people tested positive of the new variant of coronavirus Omicron, raising the number of positive cases to ten in the Rawalpindi district.
District Focal Person District Health Authority Dr Waqar Ahmed, Saturday informed that four patients had been tested positive last week while samples of around 42 suspects had been sent to Benazir Bhutto Hospital for confirmation on Thursday, out of which six were declared positive.
He said that all patients were quarantined at home, and their condition was satisfactory.
Dr Waqar informed that most patients were reported from the Rawalpindi Cantonment areas, including Shalley valley, Range road, Al-Noor colony, Westridge, Dhoke Sayda and Chaklala scheme, while one patient was reported from the city Khayban-e-Sir Syed area.
The health officer further added that World Health Organization (WHO) had provided RT-PCR kits to the District Health Authority to detect the new variant of coronavirus Omicron and other variants of COVID-19 reported so far.
He said that, free of cost, Omicron tests were available at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital as timely and reliable testing was crucial to control and manage the emerging variant.
Dr Waqar urged the residents to get vaccinated at the earliest who had not still jabbed against the deadly disease; adding the vaccination was the only way to defeat it.
He stressed the need for citizens to complete their doses who had contracted one dose yet.