Covid-19 deaths soar to 172 as cases jump to 2,907 in KP

PESHAWAR: At least 26 patients lost their lives and 280 people tested positive for coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past two days, bringing the total number of fatalities to 172 and confirmed cases to 2,907.

On Thursday alone, 246 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in KP, the highest number of people who tested positive in a single day for coronavirus since the outbreak of the fatal disease in the country. With 172 human losses, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is still ahead of other provinces in terms of fatalities. Of the 246 positive cases reported on Friday, 145 originated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The remaining 101 patients included the passengers who arrived from overseas, including those brought on special flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the ones coming from Afghanistan by road via the Torkham border. Those entering the country from Afghanistan were quarantined in Khyber tribal district.

Meanwhile,, the KP Health department finally traced the 15 people who died between April 9-23. It confirmed that they had died from Covid-19. Saturday proved another terrible day as 15 people died of coronavirus and 108 more tested positive for the fatal disease in the province. It is stated to be the highest human loss in a single day form coronavirus in KP since the outbreak of the disease. The rising number of fatalities in KP has caused worry to the rulers and health managers as they are helpless to contain the spread of the disease. Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Friday said, “These 15 deaths were previously suspected cases or unreported cases.” “In KP, we report deaths in any patients reported corona positive as corona related deaths in line with WHO standards; we also do postmortem sampling and will add any suspect cases even when results come after death. This may affect the comparability of data with other provinces,” the health minister explained.

“Finally, the district breakdown and heat-map show the intensity of spread of 2,275 cases within the province; where Peshawar remains the area most affected with 931 cases overall. I hope that this continues to show how we try our best to report as transparently as possible,” the health minister said. On Wednesday (April 29), KP reported 153 positive cases of coronavirus and suffered eight human losses as a result of Covid-19.

It is usually quite late when the KP health department releases its daily report of coronavirus cases and human losses. One reason that delays the report, according to officials, is that the health department carefully collects data from each district and reports deaths as per the WHO criteria. On Saturday, the first policeman, Mohammad Faheem, in the province died due to complications arising from Covid-19. In KP, Peshawar is the most affected place by the coronavirus so far. According to the report of the KP Health department, 10 people died alone in Peshawar on Thursday. Of the 15 people who died on Saturday, 10 were from Peshawar.

Of 172 people who have died to-date of coronavirus in KP, 105 lost their lives in Peshawar. It recorded another 57 positive cases, raising the total number of positive cases to 1,066. Peshawar is followed by Swat with 184 positive cases and 14 deaths. Besides infecting common people, the virus has now started targetting health workers, particularly young doctors. Mostly trainee medical officers, paramedics, and nursing staff are contracting the virus.

Though the government had suspended outpatients department (OPDs) services in the hospitals and shut private clinics to keep the health workers safe from the highly contagious disease, they are still getting infected form indoor patients mostly brought to the emergency department and then admitted to different units.

In the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), KP’s oldest and largest public sector health facility, 24 members of the medical community have tested positive for coronavirus.

According to Mohammad Asim, LRH media manager, 14 doctors, six male nurses, one paramedic staff member and one ward clerk, and two Class-IV employees have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and quarantined.

He said keeping in view the increasing number of hospital staff being infected by the coronavirus, the LRH Hospital Director Dr Khalid Masud has decided to screen all employees of the hospital.

According to sources, LRH Medical Director Dr Suleman Khan has isolated himself after his recent exposure to infected patients in the ICU of the hospital. Presently, 45 patients are admitted to the hospital including 25 who have tested positive for coronavirus.