PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s death toll due to Covid-19 infection reached 345 as 11 more persons died of the pandemic on Tuesday.

The elder of Awami National Party central leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain was also among the deceased. Mian Iftikhar himself is also suffering from the disease.

Fatalities in Peshawar reached 206 with seven more deaths. The province also recorded 324 new coronavirus cases, the highest number of confirmed cases in a single day so far, taking the provincial tally to 6,554, according to daily situation report released by the health department.

The newly-reported deaths included seven from Peshawar, two from Abbottabad and one each from Nowshera and Bajaur districts.

Death toll reaches 345; ANP leader among 324 new cases in KP

The infected people also include Mian Iftikhar Hussain, whose brother Mian Mohammad Sareer died of the virus on Tuesday.

A press release issued from Bacha Khan Markaz confirmed that Mian Iftikhar was suffering from Covid-19. He has isolated himself.

ANP central secretary information Zahid Khan said that Mian Iftikhar Hussain was in self-quarantine after he felt unwell at the funeral ceremony of his elder brother in his native village Pabbi in Nowshera district on Tuesday.

“His condition is improving but he cannot meet anyone and is under-treatment. He will remain in isolation till complete recovery from the pandemic,” Mr Khan said. He also asked the workers to pray for Mian Iftikhar Hussain’s early recovery and avoid visiting him for offering condolence on his brother’s death.

He said that his family cancelled condolence ceremony due to safety precautions. The people have been asked not to come for condolence and pray instead for the departed soul of his brother as well as for Mian Iftikhar Hussain’s recovery.

ANP central and provincial chiefs Asfandyar Wali Khan and Aimal Wali Khan also contacted Mian Iftikhar by telephone and condoled his brother’s death. They said that Mian Iftikhar was pride of the nation and he would overcome his illness and would be once again serving his people.

On Monday, ANP senior leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour had tested positive for coronavirus.

The health department report said that 114 patients, who had previously been diagnosed with Covid-19 infection, recovered from the ailment and sent home from the hospitals. So far, 2058 persons had been healed from the disease, it said.

Of the freshly-diagnosed cases, 98 belong to Peshawar, which is leading the scorecard of confirmed cases in the province with 2510. Swat, another endemic district, has recorded 34 new cases and is second after Peshawar in terms of detected cases.

Nowshera has recorded 26 new patients where total patients are 173 now while Mardan has registered 23 new cases, making its tally of confirmed cases 366.

Dir Lower has reported 18 cases and now accounts for 197 total patients while cases in Charsadda have reached 128 with 12 fresh patients.

The report said that 53 of the new positive patients were from the quarantine centres where people arrived from different countries were kept.

It said that 2,816 persons were still in quarantine centres of the total 6,409 including pilgrims from Taftan and Pakistanis from Afghanistan and other countries. According to it, 3,593 persons have been discharged from the quarantine centres.

Peshawar division accounted for 224 deaths and 2942 cases; Malakand division has 56 deaths and 1,626 cases; Mardan has 33 deaths and 458 cases; Hazara has 17 deaths and 367 cases; Kohat has 10 deaths and 228 cases; Bannu has two deaths and 98 cases; and Dera Ismail Khan has two deaths and 83 cases.

Malakand division stands on top of lists of recovered patients with 766, Peshawar has recovered 348 patients, Hazara 219, Mardan 213, Kohat 141, Bannu 70 and Dera Ismail Khan has 51 recovered patients.

Thec ase fatality rate (CFR) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 5.26 per cent, the highest in the country. In Peshawar, CFR stands at 8.20 per cent, the most in any city of the country. The CFR has slightly decreased in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Peshawar as compared to Monday.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 deaths have been reported whereas Peshawar alone has recorded seven deaths among the overall deaths occurred in the province during the last 24 hours. It means Peshawar has contributed 63 per cent to the total fatalities in the province.

Our correspondent from Swabi adds: Another Covid-19 patient died in the district.

Eight more persons tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. The total number of patients in the district has reached 92.

The person, who died of Covid-19, hailed from Karnal Sher Khan village. He was admitted to the isolation ward of Bacha Khan Hospital. A day ago, his condition deteriorated he was shifted to ICU to be put on ventilator.

The total fatalities in the district reached 12. The local politicians and people said that they were worried by increasing number of the positive cases because the health system could not cater to the needs of the increasing number of the patients.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2020