PESHAWAR: Four more persons died due to Covid-19 as 371 new cases were recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.

The number of deaths from the virus has reached 1,323 and the total cases to 43,430, according to a health department report. The active cases in the province have swelled to 2,589.

Peshawar continues to record more cases than any other district of the province as it accounted for 154 new patients reported during the last 24 hours. The provincial capital has also recorded most of the deaths since the pandemic began.

For the first time, the province diagnosed 371 cases in a single day since June.

The health authorities also reported 95 new cases in educational institutions taking the overall tally of confirmed patients across the province to 2,118.

Positivity rate in Peshawar is 9 per cent. The overall positivity of swabs in the educational institutions is 2.16 per cent, but in the last one week, it has gone up to 8.5 per cent. Swat, Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Lower Dir and Lower Chitral are the hardest-hit areas.

Peshawar, the hotbed of virus in KP, is also responsible for most cases in educational institutions as it has so far registered 255 cases. The city has emerged as the most dangerous district for Covid-19 infections, forcing the authorities to impose smart lockdowns in 21 areas.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2020