PESHAWAR: Most of the people infected with coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last week were young people, disclosed the World Health Organisation on Friday.

The disclosure was made in a report as 11 more people died of coronavirus and 277 were diagnosed with it in the province.

According to the health department, the province’s death toll from the virus swelled to 1,773 and cases to 62,996 in the last 24 hours.

The WHO Khyber Pakhtunkhwa carried an analysis of Covid-19 mortalities and incidence in the province last week and declared that the virus was rampant in the 21-30 age bracket unlike the people in 61-70 age group, who suffered more deaths due to the infection.

Virus claims 11 more lives in KP

According to the WHO report, the virus affected 3,149 people last week with 740 of them being in the 21-30 age group.

A total of 666 virus patients were aged from 31 to 40 years, 480 from 41 to 50 years, 409 from 51 to 60 years and 348 from 11 to 20 years.

The analysis covered 3,149 active Covid-19 cases, including 2,053 men, 1,095 women and one transgender person.

According to the report, coronavirus has infected children up to 10 years of age, whose number stood at 83, while the infected people totalled 91 in the age group of 71-80, 51 in 51-90 age bracket and seven in 91-100 age group. The patients included a transgender person.

The virus killed most people in the age group of 61-70, said the analysis of mortalities reported in the province since the start of the pandemic.

The report said unlike the higher infectivity among young people, the infection had killed 526 people aged 61-70 years.

It added that one of the deceased was under 10 years of age, whereas 11 were between 11 and 20 years of age. In the age group of 51-60, coronavirus killed 499 people.

The WHO report revealed that 31 people, who lost life to the virus, were aged 30 and 31 years and 13 between 91 and 100 years of age.

It said 94 deceased were in the age group of 41-50, 251 in 71-80, 59 in 81-90 and 13 in 91-100.

According to the report, the number of cases among youths was higher than that of the elderly people but the former survived the virus due to strong immunity.

The people in lower age groups were exposed to the infection as they had more mobility than the elderly ones.

The report also found that the province faced challenges, which required to be overcome to check the transmission of the virus.

It said the public transport, especially van-based inter-city transport, posed a serious threat to the residents due to non-compliance with the standard operating procedures as social distancing for the prevention of coronavirus were being violated despite a strict warning and imposition of fines by the government agencies.

The health officials said the youths, who were getting infected, acted as the transmitters of the virus to the elderly people or those with underlying health conditions.

They said mortalities among youths were less than the elderly ones but the former were the carrier of the virus and could infect the elderly ones people in their homes, neighbourhoods and community.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2021