PESHAWAR: A senior dental surgeon was among 12 persons, who died of coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.

Nine of the deceased belonged to Peshawar and one each to Bajaur, Abbottabad and Kohat, according to a report released by the health department.

The province’s tally of deaths stood at 2,469, and with 610 new infections reported during the last 24 hours the total number of cases has swelled to 93,033.

The province has a total of 11,534 active cases with 79,030 patients having been recovered. According to the report, 150 more patients recovered on Monday.

Peshawar continues to record more cases as it registered 171 patients on Monday, taking its tally to 38,020.

Mardan reported 91 cases, Haripur 55, Charsadda 39, Nowshera 34 and Swat 30, the report said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan expressed shock over the death of Dr Mohammad Taufiq, a dental surgeon at the Police Services Hospital.

The CM said the government held the healthcare providers in high esteem because of the services they had been rendering during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a statement. He said the government would extend every help to the healthcare professionals in these trying times.

On the other hand, the provincial doctors’ association said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had lost 51 doctors to Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic last year, according to a statement. It asked the people to observe social distancing, hand hygiene and wear masks in order to stay safe from the disease.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2021