PESHAWAR: An alarming pattern with regard to Covid-19 has been noted as cases and mortalities are surging with Peshawar and Mansehra as the hardest-hit districts in second wave of pandemic in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The pattern of new cases is similar to the previous wave as the same districts are recording more cases which remained epicentres of the virus when the pandemic started early this year.

On Wednesday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded five deaths and 512 incidences as the pattern of cases and mortalities followed the one of the first wave during the last week.

Peshawar continues to act as hub of the virus as it reported 155 new cases in the last 24 hours. Coronavirus cases surged to 17,129 in the provincial capital while Mansehra has emerged as the new hotspot of the infection which alone reported 126 cases, taking its total score to 1,685.

Peshawar accounted for 631 deaths, the most number by any district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where a total of 1,344 persons have fallen to the infection. The province has reported 45,828 cases so far.

Educational institutions have also recorded 2,740 cases since mid October with overall infectivity rate of 2.52 per cent. However, the positivity of swabs taken from the schools’ inmates in last fortnight has been alarmingly high, officials said.

The past two weeks have seen 12.50 per cent positivity rate which is worrisome as the students were safe from the pandemic despite being positive due to their immunity level, but they can act as transmitters of the virus to the elderly or people with underlying health conditions in their homes and neighbourhoods.

The Peshawar district administration has imposed smart lockdowns in 10 areas, including streets in Phase 1, 3 and 6 of Hayatabad and on Shami Road, Warsak Road, Professors Colony and University of Peshawar due to new cases.

The district administration is checking markets, wedding halls, restaurants to check adherence to the standard operating procedures for Covid-19, while the hospitals have started enhancing their capacity as well as human resources to deal with increasing number of patients.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2020