PESHAWAR: Nine more people died of novel coronavirus and 313 were infected with it in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday with Peshawar being hardest hit by the second wave of Covid-19 in the province.

The virus positivity rate reached 19.7 per cent in the provincial capital, highest in any district across the country, said a report of the World Health Organisation.

The health department said of the nine deaths caused by coronavirus in the province, six were reported in Peshawar district and one each in Nowshera, Mardan and Kohat.

A total of 123 people tested positive for the virus in Peshawar taking the tally of cases to 17,490, the highest among KP districts.

The provincial capital has recorded more deaths by coronavirus than other districts. Until now, 640 residents have lost life to the pandemic.

The number of Covid-19 deaths and cases in the province reached 1,355 and 44,604, respectively.

The province has 3,772 active coronavirus cases with 1,223 based in Peshawar.

The Haripur district, which didn’t record large number of cases in the first Covid-19 wave, is seeing more and more residents testing positive for the virus. It recorded 82 cases in the last 24 hours.

According to the health department, the Peshawar division is leading the province with the largest number of coronavirus deaths and cases. Its five districts, including Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Khyber and Mohmand, have lost a total of 717 residents to the virus and recorded 20,152 cases.

The doctors fear that the hospitals will be overwhelmed with seriously-ill patients and there will be no bed to admit more.

They told Dawn that the second wave of the virus was considered to be more dangerous than the previous one, so the strict enforcement of standard operating procedures was needed to prevent Covid-19 deaths and cases.

The doctors said 484 coronavirus patients were hospitalised in the province with 36 being on ventilator.

Our correspondent from DI Khan adds: Seven teachers of the Government Higher Secondary School No 4 for Boys quarantined themselves at home after testing positive for coronavirus.

Principal Aslam Jaffer said samples were taken from school staff for Covid-19 testing after the infection of a teacher last week.

He said the test results showed that seven more teachers had contracted the disease.

“The district education officer has told us that the school will be sealed,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2020