Covid claims life of 58th doctor in K-P

The deadly Covid-19 infection continues to spread across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) non-stop as 58th doctor became the latest casualty in the province on Thursday.

Dr Muhammad Iqbal, in charge Type D Hospital, Lund Khwar Mardan, had been admitted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) for the past two weeks where he was put on ventilator when his condition deteriorated rapidly.

He was laid to rest in his ancestral village in Hatyan, Mardan district.

Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) has once against criticized the K-P government for its failure to provide compensation package to the families of deceased doctors as well as Covid-19 risk allowance in the face of the deadly third wave of the infection.

Read: Punjab, K-P to expand Covid curbs as third wave aggravates

On Tuesday the mortality rate hit an all-time high in the K-P with 49 deaths in a single day in which most deaths were reported in Peshawar district.

So far around 92 health workers have lost their lives in which 58 are doctors, 15 paramedics, six nurses, and 13 are other workers including technicians, lab assistants, drivers and ward attendants.

It is worth mentioning here that around 610 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to the three largest hospitals of the province in which 58 had been put on ventilators. Many more patients have been put on by-pipes.

Official sources told The Express Tribune that 23 patients have been put on supportive by-pipes oxygen in the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH).

“When we put a patient on by-pipe oxygen he consumes four-time more oxygen than a patient on ventilator,” they said.

Read more: 35 arrested in K-P for flouting SOPs

Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) has been on the top with most patients as the number of patients reached 359 there in which 29 have been at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

There are a total of 380 beds reserved for Covid patients at the hospital. The number of these beds is being increased to 500 in the coming days. At HMC there are 149 Covid patients against the total bed capacity of 178. There are 38 ventilators at the hospital in which 26 are already occupied.

At KTH there are a total 106 beds available for the corona patients out of which 102 are already occupied. One patient has been on ventilator at KTH.

PDA said that the situation was not good as general public as well as doctors were becoming casualty of the pandemic without inviting any attention. They blamed there was a lack of protective gear at the hospital for all staffers.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2021.