The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Sunday imposed a complete lockdown in Mardan for seven days due to the rise in coronavirus cases.
Kamran Bangash, the spokesperson for the provincial government, announced on Sunday that a seven-day complete lockdown would be imposed in Mardan from Monday as the positivity rate of coronavirus cases has crossed the 40 per cent mark there.
He said that pharmacies and shops of essential commodities will remain open. He appealed to the citizens to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to protect themselves against the virus.
Earlier in the day, another doctor died in KP due to the virus. As many as 64 doctors have succumbed to the virus in the province since the start of the pandemic.
Bangash also visited the Khyber Medical University (KMU) and its Public Health Reference Laboratory (PHRL). He was briefed by Dr Zia Ul Haq, VC KMU and Professor of Public Health, on the recent KMU progress and future vision.
Bangash then visited KMU lab and was briefed on daily activities of PHRL and its efficient role in KP for Covid PCR Testing. He was informed that KMU has done more than 600,000 Covid-19 tests since March 2020 and has increased its daily capacity to 3,000 Covid PCR tests.
Bangash appreciated the role of KMU for its contribution and efforts of its staff as a frontline health worker. He said that the Higher Education Department KP under the leadership of CM and governor KP has been able to fill all the VC positions in KP purely on merit based and “we have high hopes from them.”
He said that the government is closely working with these new VCs to make the KP universities the highest seats of learning, education and research. Bangash said that looking at the potential of KMU staff under the dynamic young leadership, it will soon be one of the top medical universities not only in the country but at the regional level.
He said that the contribution of KMU proved the dream of the current government that the university doesn’t only act as a degree awarding body but also contributes and provides solutions to the local problems. He also emphasised the continuity of testing capacity of KMU Lab and further enhancing it. He showed his concern over reports of a growing number of Covid-19 variants across the globe. He also stressed on the need for and adopting newer technologies for detection of Covid-19 mutant strains.
The vice chancellor updated Bangash about the KMU preparation for establishment and operations of variant detection using sequencing in a few days’ time.
