Daily Times

The total active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Thursday were recorded 8,825 as 543 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during the last 24 hours.

Five corona patients, including four who were under treatment in hospitals and one out of hospital died on Wednesday, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC). No COVID affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Balochistan, while 98 ventilators elsewhere in Pakistan were occupied out of 1,912 allocated for COVID-19 patients.

Some 34,239 tests were conducted across the country on Wednesday, including 10,940 in Sindh, 12,184 in Punjab, 4,053 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 4,678 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,254 in Balochistan, 506 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and 624 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Around 297,497 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 312,806 cases were detected so far, including AJK 2,731, Balochistan 15,281, GB 3,787, ICT 16,611, KP 37,811, Punjab 99,479 and Sindh 137,106. About 6,484 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,499 in Sindh among one of them in hospital and one out of hospital on Wednesday, 2,235 in Punjab one died in hospital on Wednesday, 1,260 in KP one died in hospital on Wednesday, 182 in ICT, 146 in Balochistan one of them in hospital on Tuesday, 88 in GB and 74 in AJK two of them in hospital on Tuesday.

A total of 3,548,476 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 735 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities. Some 708 corona patients were admitted in hospitals across the country.

Meanwhile, a doctor, under treatment for the past two months since being diagnosed with COVID-19, passed away in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Thursday.

Dr Dost Muhammad, who served as the Provincial Coordinator for Multi-Drug Resistance in the TB Control Programme, was undergoing treatment at the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar for almost two months. He was said to have contracted the virus while on duty. Although the doctor later tested negative for Covid-19, he was brought to the pulmonology ward of the hospital on September 22, informed the hospital’s spokesperson.

The doctor’s condition worsened on September 29, after which he was shifted to the ICU, the spokesperson maintained. He later died of multiple organ failure.

The Provincial Doctors Association has also confirmed Covid-related complications as the reason for Dr Dost Muhammad’s demise. Covid-19 has reportedly claimed the lives of at least 20 doctors in the province so far. On July 5, another doctor died of the coronavirus in Peshawar.

Dr Hidayatullah Wazir was undergoing treatment at the Hayatabad Medical Complex before he succumbed to the disease, said sources. He was laid to rest at a graveyard in his hometown of Azeem Qi, they said. Doctors’ associations and media have reported even higher numbers of Covid-19 cases and fatalities among healthcare workers. At the onset of the pandemic in Pakistan, numerous protests were held by healthcare workers demanding the provision of personal protective equipment, protection, benefits, as well as improved working conditions as the pandemic added strain to an already burdened healthcare system. On the other hand, a mini smart lock down has been slapped by Sindh government for 15 days in the area of UC-8 of Manghopir here in the wake of hike in corona cases. Notification issued by the office of Deputy Commissioner Karachi West said, mini smart lockdown has been imposed for a period of two weeks from 12:00 am 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 till 07:00 pm.