Delta variant reaches Peshawar, says official

PESHAWAR: A senior official said on Saturday that Delta variant of coronavirus had reached Peshawar as a woman from the city had been diagnosed with the Indian virus.

Provincial Secretary Health Syed Imtiaz Hussain said that a 38-year old woman from Peshawar had been diagnosed with the deadly Indian virus.

He said the health department had sent samples of seven patients to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad for sequencing of the virus.

A 24-year old resident of Upper Dir was diagnosed with the South African variant of coronavirus, while three women who belong to Peshawar, Kohat and Kurram were tested positive for the UK variant of the infectious disease.

The secretary said that all these people had recently arrived from Abu Dhabi.

Health experts said mass vaccination was the only way to get rid of the viral infection.

“With more people vaccinated, we will reduce mortality and hospitalisation even with the Indian variant of coronavirus,” Vice Chancellor Khyber Medical University (KMU) Prof Ziaul Haq said.