Surge in cases, fatalities as SOPs go unheeded

ISLAMABAD: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities in Pakistan rose to 49,391 and 1,051 respectively on Thursday due to the people’s least adherence to the health protocols pleading cough etiquette, respirator hygiene, and social distancing. Of 49,391 confirmed cases, Sindh reported 19,924 cases, Punjab 17,382, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 7,155, Balochistan 2,968, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 1,138, Gilgit-Baltistan 579, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 133.

Of 1,051 deaths, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 365 deaths, Sindh 336, Punjab 297, Balochistan 38, Gilgit-Baltistan 4, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 10, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 1. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, people seem to have started paying the price for negligence as 20 people died in the past two days, 14 of them on Thursday, taking the death toll to 365 – the highest number of fatalities in any city of the country.

With 365 deaths, KP is leading with the highest human losses from coronavirus in the country. As many as 340 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 that brought the total number of confirmed positive cases to 7155 in KP, again the highest number of positive cases. Of 14 people who died from coronavirus in KP, seven of them belonged to Peshawar alone. Peshawar has suffered more human losses than any other city in the country. Up to 216 people had lost lives as a result of Covid-19 in Peshawar so far. Also, with 92 positive cases reported from Peshawar, the number of total cases reached 2694 in the city, again the highest number of positive cases reported in any city of the country. Bajaur and Karak districts also lost two people each.