PESHAWAR: Thirty-two residents died of coronavirus and 983 were infected with it in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday with Peshawar recording more mortalities and cases than other districts.

The administration of Peshawar continued with the crackdown on violators of standard operating procedures in the day sealing shops, impounding public transport vehicles and arresting traders and drivers.

According to a report of the health department, Peshawar district continued to be the hardest hit by the virus in the province with 12 deaths and 352 more cases.

The number of Covid-related deaths and cases there reached 1,388 and 39,910, respectively.

Mardan recorded nine deaths, Swat three, Abbottabad and Bannu two each and Nowshera, Swabi, Malakand and Upper Chitral one each.

The report said deaths by the virus in the province totalled 2,618, while of 98,301 cases, 83,255 had recovered and were discharged by hospitals.

Peshawar hardest hit district with 12 deaths

It added that 746 such recoveries were reported during the last 24 hours.

According to it, 97 new cases were reported in Mardan, 71 in Charsadda, 58 in Nowshera, 47 in Swat, 44 in Haripur, 28 in Abbottabad, 22 in Mansehra, 21 in Kohat and 20 in Bannu.

Peshawar division has recorded most deaths and cases in the province since the outbreak of coronavirus. A total of 1,495 residents lost life to the virus and 49,266 were infected with it with the numbers being more than half of the province’s overall tally.

Malakand division has recorded 353 deaths and 18,925 cases and Mardan 259 deaths and 6,536 cases.

Also in the day, the district administration of Peshawar continued to take action against the SOP violators. It sealed 106 shops and arrested their owners, while 56 public transport drivers were held and their vehicles were impounded for violating intra-district transport ban, said a news release.

According to it, the people violating SOPs will continue to be dealt with strictly.

Meanwhile, the vaccination of health care workers and senior citizens against coronavirus continued in the province.

On Saturday, the first dose of COvid-19 vaccine was administered to 882 HCWs taking the number of such workers to 44,959 during the last 24 hours. Also, 389 HCWs were given the second dose during the period with such workers totalling 24,219.

The second dose of the vaccine was administered to 5,105 senior citizens.

A health department report said a total of 7,711 senior citizens had so far received the first dose.

A senior official of the department said there was a slight decline in cases and virus positivity rate during in the last two days.

“On average, we have been conducting over 8,000 tests daily since March to record positive cases and trace their close contacts,” he said.

The official said as of Saturday, 105 patients were admitted to the Khyber Teaching Hospital, 143 to the Hayatabad Medical complex, 315 to the Lady Reading Hospital and 58 to the Nishtarabad Covid-19 Hospital.

He said the health department looked to the district administration for SOP enforcement as the growing hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients was worrisome.

The official said besides testing and management of patients, the department was also screening passengers reaching the Bacha Khan International Airport to ensure that they don’t transmit the virus to their families and community members.

He said during the last 24 hours, the department in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority had screened 1,072 passengers of eight flights.

The official said there was no shortage of medical oxygen in hospitals.

He urged the people to contact hospitals soon after being down with the infection, especially the elderly ones or those with underlying health conditions.

“The elderly population should stay home as they’re most vulnerable to coronavirus,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2021