PESHAWAR: The Covid-19 claimed 12 more lives and infected 541 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday as positivity in Peshawar swelled to 16.6 per cent.

Seven persons passed away in Peshawar, two in Swat, one each in Chitral Lower, Bajaur and Bannu district, according to a report released by health department.

Peshawar, the hardest-hit district of the province, also detected 221 of the new infections, followed by Abbottabad with 64 cases while 41 cases were reported in Kohat, 30 in Mardan, 26 in Swat, 23 in Mansehra, 20 each in Swabi and Nowshera, 18 in Dera Ismail Khan, 13 in Dir Lower and 10 each in Bannu and Chitral Upper.

The province has 5,480 active patients presently. So far, 4,507 people have died of the infectious ailment in the province whereas the number of Covid-19 cases is 147,026. Of the total confirmed patients, 137,039 (95 per cent), including 171 registered during the last 24 hours, have recovered. A total of 11,357 tests were conducted in the province, said the report.

It said that infectivity of Covid-19 swabs was recorded 8.9 per cent in Mardan, 7.8 per cent in Nowshera, 7.7 per cent in Abbottabad and 5.9 per cent in Swabi.

It said that 3.96 million people had received first dose of coronavirus vaccine so far while the number of people, who got second dose, was 8.71 million.

The health department is administering seven types of Covid-19 jabs to people. These include Sinopharm, Cansino, Sinovac, Astrazeneca, PakVac, Pfizer and Moderna. Vaccination is picking momentum throughout the province.

Khyber Teaching Hospital said that it received 2,500 people for vaccination every day. KTH spokesman said that people should send message on 1166 and visit the vaccination centre at the hospital after receiving confirmation.

During the last 24 hours, bed occupancy in Peshawar was 42 per cent, in Abbottabad 70 per cent, in Swat 30 per cent, in Swabi and Nowshera 16 per cent each and in Mardan 11 per cent. A total of 962 confirmed cases are currently hospitalised and 419 of them are on low flow oxygen, 502 are on high flow and 41 on ventilators, according to a report of World Health Organisation.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2021