PESHAWAR: Amid surge in Covid-19 cases, health department has made a junior doctor head of data management, laboratory coordination and logistic distribution unit at the provincial command and control centre for coronavirus in the province, prompting senior doctors to stay away from the work, according to sources.

The elevation of Dr Syed Irfan Ali Shah, a BPS-17 officer, has irked the senior doctors, many of whom said they were disheartened and didn’t want to work under a person far junior to them.

One of the doctors to work under him is in BPS-20 and three others are in BPS-19.

They have been made members of the centre under Dr Syed Irfan Ali Shah against whom inquiries were conducted by senior health officials and ordered recoveries from him. He was accused of receiving illegal money from other projects.

Seniors criticise move; five members of Tableeghi Jamaat test positive for virus in Swabi

Dr Irfan Ali Shah, however, denied the charge. “This was old inquiry conducted in 2016 and a fabrication to settle personal scores and nothing else,” he told this scribe.

He said that at the moment they were working day and night for Covid-19 response.

The disgruntled senior doctors, however, said that government should have assigned the top position to a senior person to tackle the province-wide situation with regard to coronavirus more effectively.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 cases continue to rise as total tally reached 865 with 38 deaths as of April 14.

The available test results are 3,345, positive are 865 and negative are 2480, which means 26 per cent among those tested were positive. Every fourth person is coming out to be positive for Covid-19.

Senior public health experts say that government should strengthen the corona management by appointing senior people.

Meanwhile, four staffers of a hospital, including two Class-III and as many Class-IV employees, tested positive for Covid-19. They have been relieved of duty and isolated while majority of others want to be sent home to stay safe from being infected with the virus.

Three patients were discharged from isolation ward of Khyber Teaching Hospital on Wednesday after recovery from Covid-19.

The head of the ward, Dr Saud Islam, told Dawn that the recovered patients were required to stay away from their families in their homes for a few weeks. All the patients were sent home in ambulances and the district administration was informed accordingly, he said.

In Swabi, five members of Tableegi Jamaat belonging to different countries tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday.

Officials said that 43 members of Tableegi Jamaat were quarantined in Masjid Al-Qasim, Taleegi Markaz in Topi tehsil by the district administration soon after their arrival for preaching.

The five members of the Jamaat, who tested for coronavirus, were shifted to tehsil headquarters hospital in Chota Lahor where they would be quarantined till their recovery.

Meanwhile, the health department in Abbottabad said the government had provided it with personal protective equipment including N-95 masks, surgical masks, gloves and gowns.

The PPEs included 250 N-95 masks, 2,500 surgical masks, 5,200 gloves and 280 gowns.

According to a daily situation report compiled by the district health department, the healthcare providers need at least 4,000 N-95 masks, 12,000 surgical masks, 20,000 gloves, 10,000 goggles, 10,000 gowns and 5,000 shoe covers.

A report shared by the district health officer, Dr Faisal Khanzada, with media stated that Covid-19 cases in the district rose to 32. Of them, eight patients have recovered while 22 are stated to be in stable condition, whereas two patients have died.

Two villages in Talash area of Lower Dir district were de-sealed on Wednesday after 19 days when all the remaining suspects tested negative for Covid-19.

The district health officer, Dr Irshad Ali, told journalists that the villages — Ziarat Bukhari and Madinabad — were de-sealed after all the remaining suspected villagers tested negative for Covid-19.

The two villages were quarantined by the administration on March 28 when a woman died of Covid-19 in Peshawar and her close relatives tested positive for the virus.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2020