PESHAWAR: Though 81 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tested positive for coronavirus in the last 40 days, the health department has yet to start sample collection from suspected Covid-19 cases for testing and tracing those who were in close contact with confirmed cases.

Officials told Dawn that the health department had repeatedly asked authorities in districts to start sending samples to the Public Health Reference Laboratory at the Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, to ascertain the exact Covid-19 prevalence so that measures for the virus’s prevention and control could be taken.

They warned that the growing coronavirus incidence could assume alarming proportions if the suspected cases weren’t tested.

The officials said the province recorded 60 Covid-19 cases in March and 21 in April, suggesting that the virus was circulating and could cause a major public health issue if district authorities continued to ignore the health department’s call for the immediate launch of a contact tracing campaign.

81 cases of virus reported in province in last 40 days

They said two months ago, the department had asked the district health officers to start testing suspected cases and send “positive” samples to the PHRL to detect new variants, but none of them had complied with the orders.

“We want to subject symptomatic cases and those with respiratory, renal, and cardiac issues to screening and ensure they take preventive steps against the virus,” an official told Dawn.

He added that most of the new cases were hit by the new coronavirus strain, JN1, and they included men and women as well as children.

“People with co-morbidities are most vulnerable to coronavirus. New variants of the virus threaten people’s health and lives,” he said.

Officials said the department’s directives to start Covid-19 screening of suspected patients weren’t followed in the districts as the government had yet to clear its dues from the years 2021 and 2022.

A doctor told Dawn that he, as a member of the rapid response team, had been performing Covid-19 duty since 2021, but the department had yet to clear his Rs800,000 dues.

He claimed that he used his vehicle and paid for petrol from his own pocket for that work.

When contacted, Dr Irshad Ali Roghani, the director (public health) at the office of director-general health services, said payments to members of the rapid response teams were withheld due to an inquiry by the National Accountability Bureau.

“We will clear all outstanding amounts for the teams after the completion of the NAB probe,” he said.

Dr Roghani said the rapid response teams visited people in the community when Covid-19 incidence was at its peak, and they worked diligently despite risks and challenges.

“We’re asking hospitals to start OPD-based Covid-19 screening and test people with influenza-like symptoms for the virus,” he said.

The official said the department had taken exception to the non-compliance of its contract tracing orders by district offices and decided to give every hospital specific targets.

“There will be new orders soon after the Eid break is over. We will ask district officers to achieve targets or face disciplinary action,” he said.

Dr Roghani said the health department couldn’t ignore the detection of Covid cases and would take all possible measures to ensure that all suspected cases are tested and the confirmed ones are isolated to prevent the spread of the virus to the population.

“We have the capability of detecting all Covid-19 variants at the Public Health Reference Lab, where samples can be sent by all districts for testing free of charge,” he said, adding that plans for contact-tracing of confirmed cases are also in the works.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2024