4 deaths from corona in Peshawar in 24 hours

PESHAWAR: There seems no end in sight to the present coronavirus pandemic in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the provincial capital city Peshawar remained the worst victim where the virus took four lives in the past 24 hours and spread to 31 major residential areas.

With the latest fatalities, the number of deaths caused by the fast-travelling coronavirus has reached 42 in KP. And out of these 42 deaths, 19 took place in Peshawar. According to the Health Department, the majority of those who died of coronavirus had travel history of Tableegh. Some of them contracted the virus during an annual congregation at Raiwind in Lahore. Of 50 new confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, Peshawar alone reported 38 cases on Wednesday.

Despite hectic efforts by the provincial government, the number of coronavirus is alarmingly increasingly day by day. In KP, the number of confirmed positive cases has reached 912. Except for four districts, the virus has reached entire KP. After Mardan, Peshawar has become the only place badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to official data, the virus has spread to 31 thickly populated areas of the city, including Yakatoot, Mohalla Muqqarab Khan, Hashtnagri, Choona Bhatti, Gulbahar, Ganj Gate, Shah Qabool, Dhaki Nalbandi, Dilzak Road, Kamboh, Zargarabad, Chamkani, Mathra, Nasir Bagh, etc. Previously the virus used to be spread by those coming from overseas. But now, according to health experts, it is being transmitted from local people to other people. There are numerous factors responsible for the unprecedented rise in coronavirus cases and subsequent deaths in KP. KP is stated to have the highest number of mortality rate as compared to other provinces. Out of 42 total deaths in Pakistan by April 15, 2020, 42 took place in KP, that is 39 per cent of the total fatalities caused by COVID19 in the country. “KP with 4.06 per cent fatality rate is the highest at the moment in Pakistan, means 39 per cent of the deaths are from this province” said an official of the provincial health department. Pleading anonymity, he said the case fatality KP with 4.06 per cent is the highest as compared to 1.08 per cent for the whole country. Balochistan being considered a backward province in terms of everything conducted 4100 laboratory tests till April 15, 2020, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has managed to undertake 4994 investigations, that means almost on a par with them and far behind the figures of Punjab and Sindh provinces. Meanwhile, Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Thursday told reporters in Peshawar that the number of positive cases could reach 10,000 in KP.