Covid positivity ratio drops to 2.3%

The Covid-19 positivity ratio across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province has dramatically dropped to 2.3 per cent in the past 24 hours across the province despite the fact that some districts are still experiencing an increase in cases.

The highest positivity ratio has been recorded in North Waziristan tribal district at nine per cent where the infection is still spreading fast probably due to the lack of social distancing and other Covid-19 related standard operating procedures (SoP). Waziristan is also one of the few districts where the Covid vaccination ratio is the lowest in the country.

In Peshawar the ratio is five per cent, Charsadda four per cent, Khyber eight per cent, Mardan three per cent, Shangla seven per cent, Bajaur two per cent, Lakki Marwat two per cent and DI Khan one per cent. In all other districts the ratio is zero as no new case has been reported there.

An official of the Health Department told The Express Tribune that there was a decrease in overall positivity rate in some districts but the ratio was still higher in other districts including Peshawar, Khyber, Shangla, Charsadda and North Waziristan which was really disturbing. He said that the number of deaths had also dropped dramatically.

On the other hand four people succumbed to Covid-19 in the province in the last 24 hours. This has pushed up the total numbers of deaths to 5,636 in the province. Around 151 new cases were also reported. Two people lost their lives in Peshawar while two other were killed in Mardan in the pandemic. Health Department’s data showed that 195 people have also recovered successfully during this time. Around 11,036 new tests were also conducted.

Peshawar remains on the top of the deaths as well as new cases as 66 new cases surfaced in the city. It was followed by 18 cases in Mardan, 10 in Kohat, six in Buner and five in Nowshera. Two cases each were reported from Chitral Upper and Lower and four each from Mohmand tribal district and Abbotabad.

Despite all out efforts on the part of the provincial government, the vaccination targets could not be achieved in K-P and now a different approach has been employed like deployment of vaccination teams in bus terminals, BRT and NADRA offices to check and vaccinate unvaccinated people on the spot.

There is resistant to vaccination especially in the rural parts of the district and province due to the lack of awareness and lower literacy rate. There are reports of widespread fake Covid vaccination certificates too as authorities have banned entry in public offices without vaccination.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2021.