Fast-spreading coronavirus kills 20 more in KP

PESHAWAR: The fast-spreading 4th wave of coronavirus on Thursday claimed 20 more lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Also, it infected 682 more people in KP that brought the total number of infected people to 150708. The provincial capital is again in trouble as the positivity rate here is higher than other districts of the province.

Of 20 people, 11 died in Peshawar alone. Peshawar has so far lost 2235 people from the coronavirus. Other districts, including Mardan, Abbottabad, Kohat, and Dera Ismail Khan lost two each while one patient died in Nowshera.

Peshawar reported 246 positive cases, Swabi 52, Lower Chitral 45, Mansehra 42, Mardan 39, Abbottabad 37, Kohat 33, Upper Chitral, 27, Malakand 24, Dera Ismail Khan and Dir Lower 21 each, Swat 19, Bannu, 15, Nowshera, 13, Kurram, 12, Shangla, 7, and Hangu, 6.

It is the first time that the southern districts in KP started reporting positive cases. In the past, these districts and the newly merged districts never reported positive cases due to a host of reasons.

There were multiple issues, first there was no proper awareness among the people about coronavirus and then they didn’t have access to quality of pathology services in their hometowns. The Health Department seems to have improved reporting skills from these neglected areas.

The virus is, however, fast spreading across KP and the government machinery has not been able to ensure implementation of the standard operating procedures. Besides other places, the government would need to regulate and implement SoPS in the private clinics and so-called medical and surgical centres cited in the Dabgari Garden area of Peshawar.

Thousands of patients along with attendants daily visit these medical centers and private clinics of the doctors in Dabgari Garden where SoPS are widely violated. Majority of the medical centres and doctors don’t have extra sitting or waiting areas for patients and their attendants.

Patients and their attendants are needed to either sit in the lobbies or corridors on the buildings. Most of the doctors have made better arrangements for their safety. They don’t allow patients to get close to them as they have installed glasses.

However, the doctors having their clinics in these private medical centres blame the owners, saying they must dedicate sitting or waiting areas for patients and attendants in their buildings.

Also, as per building bylaws, the building owners are required to provide parking facilities to patients in the basements. However, the basements are being used for commercial purposes and the roads leading to Dabgari Garden remain blocked for hours due to vehicles parked on roads.

The doctors are of the view that the Dabgari Garden is the most vulnerable place these days particularly for critical patients as all types of patients, including the coronavirus, are taken to private clinics. “Every day I receive seven to 10 corona patients. Even they don’t know they are having corona but tested positive when advised on investigations,” a medical consultant told The News. He said the irony was that these patients were sitting and meeting with other patients in the medical centres and easily transmitting the disease to others.