PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded eight more deaths due to coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the province-wide fatalities to 416.

A health department report regarding said that 179 new cases of coronavirus were also recorded during the last 24 hours, making the overall case count in the province 8,259.

It said that 49 patients, who had previously tested positive for the infectious ailment, were discharged from the hospitals after they got recovered and tested negative.

So far, the number of healed patients from the sickness in the province is 2,578, according to the report.

Swat recorded four of the new deaths, for the first time more fatalities than Peshawar since the onset of the pandemic. So far Peshawar has been leading the daily list of fatalities in the province. Two people passed away in Peshawar and one each in Malakand and Bajaur.

Peshawar, the capital of the province, has been leading in fatalities from the virus with 237 deaths so far.

Number of cases reaches 8,259 in the province

The district also recorded 60 new confirmed patients, making the overall tally of its cases 3,071. Peshawar, the most populous city of the province, has been atop of deaths and cases registered from the virus.

Three hospitals including Khyber Teaching Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex and Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar are catering to the needs of Covid-19 patients where most of the total deaths have taken place so far.

Swat, another endemic district, has so far recorded 36 deaths due to the virus. It also confirmed 31 fresh patients, making its total count 738, second after Peshawar in deaths and cases.

Dir Lower, which has also recorded eight deaths, recorded 17 new cases, making number of total patients 248. Abbottabad also detected 17 new patients, making its total number of patients 237. The city has also enlisted 12 deaths due to coronavirus since the advent of the epidemic in the province.

In Charsadda district, 16 new patients were diagnosed with Covid-19, making its total number of confirmed patients 187. The district has also registered six deaths due to the virus so far.

Mardan, which recorded two new cases during the last 24 hours, has 525 patients afflicted with coronavirus. It has also recorded 25 deaths due to the virus. The district recorded the first-ever death due to Covid-19 in Pakistan.

However, later efforts by district administration in the shape of lockdown paid off and the situation seemed under control. The disease continues to hit the central districts of Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda and Malakand division, especially Swat.

In Hazara division, Abbottabad has been the hardest-hit district. Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions have recorded 102 cases each. Both have three and two deaths, respectively.

Kohat division has 14 deaths and 265 cases; Hazara has 23 deaths and 527 cases; Malakand has 76 deaths and 2,042 cases; Mardan has 36 deaths and 556 cases; and Peshawar has 261 deaths and 3,662 cases. Peshawar has 475 recoveries, Mardan 241, Malakand 995, Hazara 265, Kohat 150, Bannu 77 and Dera Ismail Khan has recorded 73 recoveries.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2020