Peshawar district records 20pc of nationwide coronavirus deaths.

Byline: Ashfaq Yusufzai

PESHAWAR -- Peshawar district with two per cent of the country's population accounted for 20 per cent of the nationwide and 58 per cent mortalities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The reasons for the higher mortality rate in Peshawar due to the pandemic are cited as less testing, non-observance of social distancing measures, shortage of public awareness and local culture and traditions.

'We need to scale up public awareness, encourage people for testing and enhance services, enforce wearing of masks and control needless gatherings and venturing out of homes besides deploying government servants to help in creating awareness regarding preventive measures,' Dr Sareer Badshah, dean of faculty of basic and social sciences at Islamia College University, told Dawn.

He said that the indicators with regard to Covid-19 were ideal in Azad Jammu and Kashmir due to higher hospitalisation and in Gilgit-Baltistan where more people were tested and as a result the situation was under control.

KP has 11 per cent testing with 14 per cent positivity, nine per admission, seven per cent are in stable condition, 14 per cent isolation and 33 per cent critical patients on ventilator.

The province has 34 per cent of the nationwide fatalities and has recorded only 14 per cent recoveries.

Lack of awareness and local culture cited as main reasons for higher mortality rate

Peshawar district shares nine out of 10 deaths in Peshawar division, six out of 10 in KP, and two out of 10 in Pakistan, maybe due to low testing, causing less identification of positive cases, resulting in minimum isolation and in time medication and medical care.

The district has high spread of Covid-19, high number of critical patients and high percentage of deaths.

KP has touched its slab from 10-20 to 30-40 in critical cases and deaths.

Punjab with 51.5 per cent population has the highest testing of 42.6 percent, 35.6 per cent positive case of Covid-19, 47 per cent admissions, nearly 50 per cent stability, 35 per cent isolation, 18 per cent critical on ventilator, 35 per cent recoveries and 29 per cent of the national deaths.

Sindh province, with 22.4 per cent of the country's population, has 33 per cent of the tests.

The table drawn by Dr Sareer shows 40 per cent positive cases...