PESHAWAR: Ten people died of Covid-19 on Wednesday as number of confirmed patients diagnosed with the infection reached 5,021 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The province-wide fatalities due to the pandemic have reached 267.

According to daily situation report released by health department, of the newly-recorded deaths, five belonged to Peshawar, three to Mardan, one each to Swabi and Malakand districts.

The province tested positive a total of 146 patients for coronavirus including 57 from Peshawar, which is leading in the province-wide tally of positive cases with 1,975 patients.

An independent MNA and a leader of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, Ali Wazir, also tested positive for Covid-19, according to a laboratory report of Mufti Mahmood Hospital Dera Ismail Khan.

Cases in Swat reached 385 with 19 new patients, according to the report. Battagram reported nine cases, Buner and Dur Upper recorded eight patients each, Malakand nine, Khyber six, Lower Dir five and Bannu and Mardan recorded four patients each.

Peshawar has so far recorded 160 deaths due to the virus, the highest in the province as well as the most in the country registered by any district in the country. Swat has reported 22 deaths, Mardan 19, Nowshera and Malakand seven each, Swabi and Abbottabad six each, Mansehra and Dir Lower five each and four each deaths have been recorded by Charsadda and Kohat.

MNA among 146 new cases in the province

Swat has so far recorded 385 confirmed patients, Mardan 277, Malakand 260, Buner 136, Dir Lower 134, Dir Upper 124 and Nowshera has recorded 108 cases. A total of eight districts have above 100 cases.

The report said that patients continued to get healed from the virus and so far 1,305 people recovered from the infectious ailment throughout the province. It said that 49 more patients were discharged from thospitals after they tested negative for the illness.

The case fatality rate (CFR) in Pakistan is 2.20 per cent far less than KP’s 5.31 per cent. CFR in Peshawar is 8.10 per cent, the highest in any city of the country.

A total 39 deaths have been reported during the last 24 hours in the country and 10 of them are from KP. It means KP has contributed 26 per cent to the deaths occurred in the country. Peshawar alone has recorded five deaths among the overall countrywide deaths.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said that government was committed to putting brakes on the pandemic in the province.

He said that a number of measures were underway to ensure that the people stayed safe from the infection and ensure lockdown, according to a statement.

The chief minister attended a meeting held with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair via video link where matters regarding Corona Relief Tiger Force were discussed.

The chief minister informed the participants of the meeting that more than 143,000 educated youth were enlisted throughout the province and they would be tasked to gather data about the people, who had lost their jobs due to Covid-19 epidemic so that they could be assisted by the government.

He said that members of the force also included women. He said that provincial government would extend assistance to all those, who had been affected by the lockdown.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz and divisional commissioners and members of the district administration. The chief minister said that the member of the force would also perform duties in quarantine centres besides taking part in distribution of ration among the people.

The chief secretary has also issued directives to the commissioners and deputy commissioners to ensure enforcement of the SOPs announced by the government during lockdown to ensure that the virus doesn’t spread beyond control.

Meanwhile, Provincial Doctors Association has asked the government to provide personal protective equipments to all the staff of hospitals, especially at Lady Reading Hospital where most staffers were infected with Covid-19.

Our correspondent from Dera Ismail Khan adds: PakhtunTahaffuz Movement MNA Ali Wazir was also diagnosed positive for Covid-19 infection.

According to test report of Mufti Mehmood Memorial Teaching Hospital, Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday MNA Ali Wazir tested positive for the virus.

The KP health department has suggested all those, who have recently called on MNA Ali Wazir to offer fateeha on death of his cousin Arif Wazir, to conduct their tests.

Our correspondent from Charsadda adds: Two more patients, who died of Covid-19, were buried according to the SOPs at their ancestral graveyards in Uthmanzai and Shakoor areas on Tuesday.

According to focal person for coronavirus in the district, DrFeroz Shah, both the deceased had tested positive for the virus.

Our correspondent from Khar adds: A man died of coronavirus in Bajaur tribal district on Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths to four in the district.

The deputy medical superintendent of district headquarters hospital, Dr Naseeb Gul, said that the victim died at Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar early on Tuesday morning.

He said that 61-year-old victim, who was earlier admitted to district headquarters hospital, was referred to Peshawar two days ago due to his critical condition. He said that the victim had also other health problems including heart issue.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2020