PESHAWAR: Amid fears over the new Covid-19 variant, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has begun random screening at the Peshawar airport and on Afghan border crossings in the province.

The development comes as the health department recorded six new coronavirus patients on Saturday.

Provincial chief secretary Dr Shahzad Khan Bangash had directed the health department to stay alert in light of the emergence of a new virus variant.

Officials told Dawn that the health department held a meeting on Saturday to review preparedness of authorities to prevent the spread of the virus in line with the instructions of the National Command and Operation Centre over new variant fears.

They said that risks of the people in the province from the new variant were low and that authorities were closely monitoring the situation.

Health dept records six more cases

The officials said that they’re taking all measures against Covid-19 in collaboration with the NCOC to ensure the people’s protection from the virus.

They said though new guidelines hadn’t been issued for the use of face masks, social distancing and washing of hands, the people were advised to take precautionary measures, especially those with comorbidities.

The officials said screening at the Bacha Khan International Airport and on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham had begun but no case had so far been reported.

They said the Public Health Reference Lab at the Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, had also started genome sequencing of positive cases but hadn’t found anyone infected with the new variant.

The officials said Covid-19 suspects were tested on the border points and the exercise would continue until further orders.

They said they had informed the NCOC that the province faced no threats from the new variant as its 90 per cent population had received vaccine jabs against the virus, so they were not only safe but they had developed herd immunity as well.

The officials, however, said the province, despite being safe, won’t show laxity towards the virus as it was still around and could re-emerge with more severity.

They said under guidelines, every province was required to subject all suspected migrants to Covid-19 testing at airports and border areas on a daily basis.

The officials said every new variant was more dangerous than previous ones and therefore, precaution and vaccination was important.

They said that an active surveillance system was in place for Covid-19 screening and response, while targets for sentinel sites had already been notified with the instructions for tracing the contacts of positive Covid-19 cases.

The officials also said the province had 1,373 low-flow beds, 1,131 high-dependency units and 271 intensive care unit beds dedicated to coronavirus cases with the rate of their utilisation being less than one per cent.

They said that the province didn’t have a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines and instead, the vaccine stocks in warehouses were ample, while the vaccine distribution was made in line with the need and demand.

The officials said the province had 1,142 vaccination centres in health facilities, 33 mass vaccination centres and 58 mobile vans to administer the Covid-19 vaccine jabs to the people.

They said the province had also given the vaccine’s first booster dose to 3.299 million people and the second to 152,676 to for their safety against the virus.

Meanwhile, the health department recorded six new coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours.

A report by the department said the province had so far recorded 224,901 Covid-19 cases and 6,374 deaths.

Published in Dawn, january 1st, 2023