PESHAWAR: The Covid-19 cases and fatalities continue to decline as the province recorded 241 deaths and 5,246 infections in June as compared to 769 deaths and 14,409 cases reported in May.
On Thursday, 111 new infections were detected and four persons passed away due to the virus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, making total count of deaths and incidence 4,324 and 138,179 respectively in the province.
According to Covid-19 situation report of health department, there are 1,522 active cases in the province presently while 132,133 of the total patients have recovered. It said that the province recorded 84 more recoveries during the last 24 hours.
The report said that all the four deaths due to coronavirus occurred in Peshawar, the hardest-hit district of the province. Peshawar also reported 40 new infections, it added.
A report by World Health Organisation revealed that Peshawar reported 1,353 Covid-19 cases in June, Kohat 363, Abbottabad 294, Mardan 276, Swat 264, Haripur 223, Bannu 206, Mansehra 205, Dir Upper 199, Dera Ismail Khan 194, Nowshera 188, Malakand 181 and Chitral Lower recorded 170 cases. The infected persons included 63 per cent male and 37 per cent female.
KP records four more Covid deaths, 111 new cases
It said that the provincial capital also recorded 89 mortalities in June, the highest number in the province, while Swat reported 36 deaths, Abbottabad 20, Mardan 18 and Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan 16 each. Of the deceased, 53 per cent were males and 47 per cent females.
Torghar, Kohistan Lower and Upper, Karak, Kurram, Orakzai, Lakki Marwat, North Waziristan, Tank, South Waziristan, Khyber, Mohmand, Buner, Dir Lower, Shangla and Mansehra didn’t register any death from the pandemic last month. The level of infectivity rate has come down since January this year.
The report said that the province’s positivity rate for coronavirus swabs was recorded 4.5 per cent in January, 2.8 per cent in February, 7.1per cent in March, 12.9 percent in April, 6.7 per cent in May and 1.9 per cent in June.
Case fatality rate was 3 per cent in January, 3.3 per cent in February, 1.8 per cent in March, 2.9 per cent in April, 5.3 per cent in May and 4.5 per cent in June. The number of tests also swelled in June compared to last five months since January when total 186,615 tests were performed. Health department conducted 180,762 tests in February, 218,903 in March, 237,781 in April, 212,541 in May and 275,554 in June.
The report said that the pandemic infected 3,948 health workers since its onset in the province. The affected health workers include 2,842 (72 per cent) male and 1,106 (28 per cent) female. Of them, 1,839 (46 per cent) were doctors, 1,564 (39 per cent) paramedics and other staff and 545 (14 per cent) nurses.
In June, 25 more health workers got infected at the public sector hospitals. So far, Covid-19 has resulted in the deaths of 44 healthcare providers including doctors, paramedics and nurses.
Health officials said that after slump in cases and deaths, the main focus was on vaccination of people.
The health department wants all the line departments to vaccinate its staffers and the district administration to link issuance of driving licences, land and other documents with Covid-19 vaccination.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2021