PESHAWAR: Yet another doctor succumbed to the coronavirus in Peshawar on Wednesday, taking the provincial tally of deaths in the healthcare sector from the contagious disease to 48.
In a statement, Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) said Dr Izzat Khan, principal medical officer of District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Charsadda, had been diagnosed with the coronavirus and was undergoing treatment at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC).
Expressing grief at his demise, the association said that Dr Khan’s contributions to the field of medicine would be remembered.
The national tally of coronavirus cases neared 600,000 as infections climbed again following a decline over the last two months.
According to data from the Ministry of Health Services, 1,786 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours, taking the caseload to 595,239. With 43 more fatalities, the death toll also rose to 13,324.
“Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations in Pakistan are increasing once again. The decline seen over the past 2 months is clearly reversing as positivity has gone up from 3.31 per cent to 4.16 per cent within a week. We must remember that the pandemic is not over,” Dr Faisal Sultan, the special assistant to the prime minister on national health services, said.
The government commenced the vaccination of people aged 60 and above on Wednesday, with Dr Faisal announcing that it would begin with the senior-most citizens who had registered.
“We will work our way down in coming days,” he said.
Authorities have urged registered individuals to wait to receive a text message with instructions on their cellphones.
According to a survey released last week, nearly half of healthcare staff had concerns over Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, which is the only one available in Pakistan for now.
The poll of 555 medical workers conducted by Gallup Pakistan and a physicians’ association between February 12 and February 20 found that many health workers would prefer other vaccines.
The government distributed 504,400 Sinopharm vaccine doses to provincial authorities by February 20, and 230,000 front-line health workers had got a shot by Friday, Dr Sultan said.
Pakistan has not secured any supplies from vaccine manufacturers and is largely depending on the GAVI/COVAX initiative.
