PESHAWAR: Four people died of coronavirus and 109 were infected with it in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.

Three of the deceased belonged to Peshawar and one to Swat.

Health professionals continued to lost life to the virus as pharmacy technician Ali Zaman of Swabi, a Covid-19 patient, breathed his last at the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.

Two day ago, senior gastroenterologist Dr Ikramullah Khan had died of the virus in the North West General Hospital.Despite being fully vaccinated against coronavirus, he remained admitted to the NWGH, where he worked as the professor of gastroenterology.

A 1974 graduate of the Khyber Medical College and a resident of Matta tehsil in Swat district, he was among the most sought-after physicians in the city.

Doctors body resents delay in award of Shuhada Package

Dr Tariq Hashim Khan, a neurosurgeon at the NWGH, told Dawn that all staff members of the hospital had been immunised against coronavirus.

He said the management ensured the use of face masks, gloves and gowns by staff members, and their vaccination.

“Dr Ikramullah wasn’t dealing with Covid-19 directly,” he said.

The neurosurgeon said all those working in hospitals were more vulnerable to the virus than others.

He said adherence to precautions was of prime importance along with vaccination to stay safe from the virus.

After Dr Ikramullah’s death, the tally of doctors, nurses and paramedics killed by Covid-19 in the province reached 110.

According to a report of the World Health Organisation, 4,391 health professionals, who contracted virus in government hospitals and later lost life to it.

Only one per cent of the affected health professionals succumbed to the virus. Of the infected health professionals, 3,134 (72 per cent) were men.

The report said 2,062 (46 per cent) of the workers, who tested positive for the infection, were doctors, 1,715 (39 per cent) paramedics and other health workers, and 617 (14 per cent) nurses.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Doctors’ Association expressed concern about higher Covid-19 deaths and incidence among healthcare providers and demanded of the government to give Shuhada Package to those, who lost life to the virus on duty.

“We (doctors) still suffer the infection because there is no proper protection from the infection as all sorts of patients are visiting the hospitals,” it said in a statement.

The association said the Shuhada Package had been approved two years ago but the government was very slow in granting money to the heirs of the deceased health workers.

It said a one-time package of Rs7 million announced by the government had so far been given to 15 families, while others awaited it.

The report said deaths from Covid-19 reached 5,708 and cases 177,349 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to it, of the infected people, 168,895 (94 per cent), including 144 in the last 24 hours, recovered. The province has 2,746 active coronavirus cases. Except Peshawar, where positivity rate was 5.3 per cent, all other high-risk districts showed infectivity level below two per cent. Peshawar, which has recorded 50 per cent to province’s total deaths, also recorded 47 new cases.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2021