DG health transferred as 24 more die of Covid-19.

PESHAWAR -- The government transferred Director General Health Services Dr Tahir Nadeem Khan amid Covid-19 pandemic, which killed 24 more people including a senior doctor on Wednesday, raising the province-wide tally of deaths to 755.

A health department report said that of the people, who died of Covid-19, nine belonged to Peshawar, eight to Swat, two to Abbottabad and one each to Khyber, Mardan, Swabi, Malakand and Battagram.

In Battagram, a senior doctor of district headquarters hospital died of coronavirus at a private hospital in Islamabad on Wednesday. Dr Shah Alam, a child specialist, was infected with Covid-19 two weeks ago. He was shifted to a private hospital in Islamabad where he breathed his last.

His body was shifted to his native village Hotal Deshan where tehsil municipal administration staff buried him according to protocols.

Number of deaths from virus in the province reaches 755

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registered 506 new cases of coronavirus, making its total count 19,613, with 165 cases coming from Peshawar, 74 from Swat, 46 from Swabi, 44 from Abbottabad, 29 from Dir Upper, 18 from Haripur and 13 from Kohat.

A total of 215 people also recovered from the infection, making the total number of recovered patients 5,137 in the province.

The reason for transfer of director general health could not be known. However, sources cited his opposition to contract with private laboratories for Covid-19 tests as main reason for his transfer. The health secretary didn't respond to message sent by this reporter to seek his version regarding the transfer of the director general.

On April 13, Health Secretary Mohammad Yahya Akhundzada was replaced in similar fashion when preparations to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic were in progress.

'The government has removed Dr Tahir Nadeem Khan allegedly owing to his opposition to the contract signed with the private laboratories for Covid-19 tests of the patients,' sources said. They said that health department hired services of two private laboratories and each was required to conduct 100 tests per day at the rate of Rs4,200.

However, the health department continued to send them more samples as Khyber Medical University and other public sector laboratories were not able to receive all samples collected from the patients...