PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 885 new infections and one death from Covid-19 on Sunday as the district administrations accelerated efforts to enhance vaccination as well testing of the suspected people.

A health department report said the tally of new cases in one day was the highest in the past eight months. It said the province’s total caseload had reached 185,340 and fatalities 5,975 since the pandemic began in early 2020.

Of the total infected patients, 175,765, including 70 in the last 24 hours, had recovered.

The single death occurred in Mardan.

Peshawar recorded 555 fresh cases, Mardan 101, Abbottabad 53, Nowshera 35, Lower Chitral 33, Mansehra and Swabi 24 each, Kohat 17 and Charsadda 15.

Health officials said Peshawar continued to be the hotspot of the virus as it was home to 2,273 active cases of the total 3,600 across the province since the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Except the provincial capital, infection rate of the virus is very low, but owing to rapid emergence of Omicron, the health department wants to ensure speedy vaccination as well testing to put brakes on its transmission.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2022