After an alarming situation of covid-19, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has imposed a week-long lockdown in the Mardan district while the healthcare system in the province is squeezing after soaring cases.
Mardan has become the first district in the province and country which has gone under lockdown during the third wave of coronavirus.
The shops of daily essentials including medical and grocery stores will be exempted from restrictions while people will not be allowed to step out of homes except emergency.
The positivity rate in Mardan district has crossed 40% which is the highest in the country.
KP is hit hard by the pandemic and the increasing cases are squeezing the healthcare system in the province.
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Some 31 people were reported dead in KP on Sunday when total fatalities in the country were 70 and 956 new covid-19 cases were added to the tally. The death toll in KP has reached 3,134.
During the past 24 hours, there were 1,421 recoveries across the province while until now, 96,936 patients have recovered.
Currently, the active cases in KP are more than 14,000.
The province has suffered the most in terms of losing healthcare workers as 64 doctors have succumbed to the contagion so far.
A report published by the KP health department said that the daily consumption of oxygen in eight big public hospitals of KP has jumped to 72,500 liters from 40,000 liters.
There has been an increase of 23% in Mardan Medical Complex during the past 12 days, 66% in Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad, and 89% in Khalifa Gul Nawaz Teaching Hospital Bannu.
A report by World Health Organization (WHO) said that over 50% of ventilators in the province were under use by covid-19 infected patients.
MPA urges cooperation
MPA Zahir Shah Toro and other lawmakers urged the clerics, elders of the respective areas, and youngsters to ensure implementation of SOPs in Mardan.
The lawmakers also insisted the locals to change the method of funeral during the pandemic situation besides using face masks in public places.
MPA Toro also appealed to the philanthropists to come forward and help downtrodden people amid the pandemic situation.
Peshawar suffers pathogen’s blows
The condition in Peshawar is also alarming as the cases are soaring every day.
In Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), 435 of 485 dedicated for covid-19 patients are occupied while 33 infected patients are in ICU.
Some 156 beds of 1788 in Hayatabad Medical Complex are under use while in Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), 101 beds of dedicated 106 are occupied.