PESHAWAR: The health department in collaboration with other government bodies was focusing on Peshawar, the most infected district by Covid-19 and dengue fever, as 171 new coronavirus and 70 dengue cases were recorded in the province on Tuesday, according to officials.

They said that Peshawar was hit hard by Covid-19 as well as dengue where under the district administration, Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar, local government and others line departments launched campaigns to prevent spread of the pandemic and mosquito-borne seasonal illness dengue.

“We have started fumigation, awareness and free testing for dengue fever in Buner and other affected districts also but main focus is on Peshawar where most people have been infected,” they said.

KP records 171 and 70 new cases of coronavirus and dengue, respectively

A health department report said the province recorded 15 more fatalities from Covid-19 and 171 new infections, raising the province-wide tally of mortalities and incidence to 5,608 and 175,012, respectively.

Of the fresh deaths, 11 were reported in Peshawar, which also diagnosed 100 patients. The provincial capital is the only district with 8.3 per cent Covid-19 positivity rate. Infectivity in other high-risk districts was going down, officials said.

The report said that of the infected persons 165,426 patients, including 470 recorded during the last 24 hours, recovered from the infectious ailment while number of active cases throughout the province was 3,978. A total of 9,013 suspected people were subjected to free testing for coronavirus, it said.

Peshawar, the centre stage of Covid-19 since its onset early last year, has also been affected the most by dengue. Several villages in the district have been reporting dengue cases in bulk.

Officials said that health camps were arranged in the affected areas where lady health visitors met the women in their houses and informed them regarding the causes of spread of dengue. People in the affected areas, used to store water in open pots, which provided breeding grounds to mosquitoes, the transmitter of dengue virus, they said.

They said that most people in those areas stored water because of power outages for long durations. The department was also in touch with Peshawar Electric Supply Company about the issue of loadshedding, which exposed people to mosquito bites, said officials.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 5,593 mortalities from Covid-19 including 2,621 in Peshawar, the most populous district of the province.

One person has passed away from dengue in Abbottabad during the last one month, according to a report prepared by Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System of the Directorate General Health Services, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It said that 70 more patients of dengue were reported on Tuesday, taking the overall tally of mosquito-borne sickness to 1,794.

It said that 976 patients, including 58 recorded during the last 24 hours, recovered from the disease. The number of active patients is 818 in the province.

Peshawar has 397, the highest number of dengue patients, including 13 newly-detected cases, it added. The report said that Nowshera had 334 patients, Buner 234, Khyber 168 and Swabi had 132 patients. A total of 16,054 persons have been screened so far for the disease.

Officials said that cases of both the diseases continued to decline but still prevention was precondition to deal with public health issues. Bed occupancy in the province was 40 per cent for Covid-19, they said.

A total of 133 Covid-19 patients are currently being managed in the hospitals and 70 per cent of them are hospitalised in Peshawar. More than 100 hospitalised due to dengue, mostly in the capital city.

Officials said that the both ailments required awareness for prevention.

For Covid-19, the province has 40 per cent vaccination rate for first dose and 60 per cent for the second one.

The authorities have planned to administer jabs to 70 per cent population of 12 to 15 years age group by end of October.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2021