COVID-19 pandemic: Death toll reaches 196 in Hazara

ABBOTTABAD: With the death of a former professor of medicine Dr Hassan Shehzad in the Ayub Teaching Hospital, the death toll from coronavirus has risen to 196 in the Hazara division, with 110 fatalities alone in Abbottabad.

Also, positive cases have increased up to 7,245 out of total 82,017 cases screened while 4,333 cases are still awaited. Dr Hassan Shehzad was the 32nd doctor who lost life to coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the daily situation report, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad has a higher number of coronavirus cases where out of the total 776 patients, 609 have recovered. Up to 73 are active cases while 96 patients died so far.

Similarly, 463 people have been admitted to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, Mansehra, where 361 patients have recovered, 70 are active while 32 expired.The District Headquarter Hospital Haripur, with 25 deaths, admitted 580 patients so far, out of which 503 recovered while 52 remained active. In DHQ Hospital Battagram, 14 patients have died out of the total 69 patients while 55 have been discharged after recovery.

The Combined Military Hospital, Abbottabad has handled 46 patients, out of which 35 have recovered while 11 died. There have been cases in other facilities too.

Abbottabad Deputy Commissioner Mughees Sanaullah said the provincial government has been focusing on equipped isolation centers to cope with patients of coronavirus. He said there was a 12-bedded isolation centre at the Ayub Teaching Hospital and 40-bedded centre at the DHQ Hospital at Abbottabad, besides 20 beds in each private hospital.

The official said that they already have an 80-bedded quarantine centre at Kunj Sports Complex but they were preferring to treat the patients in the well-equipped isolation centres.

He said that facemask was now being increasingly used the city, which has improved the situation.

Dean, Ayub Medical Teaching Institution, Dr Umer Farooq, when contacted, confirmed that 10 patients were in critical condition lying at intensive care unit of the hospital, out of the total 55 patients still admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital.

He confirmed 122 deaths at the ATH due to Covid-19 and said that 166 staff members, including doctors, trainees, paramedics and other staff have been infected with the coronavirus.

The dean said that four staff members of Ayub Medical Teaching institution have died and two doctors were among them.

Medical Director of the ATH, Dr Ahsan Aurangezeb, said that they were trying their best to provide special care to coronavirus patients.

When asked about establishing a filter clinic, he said that symptoms of the pandemic had changed and the severity of weather was not allowing them to do so.

Meanwhile, the Young Doctors Association KP issued an updated list of the doctors who lost lives to the pandemic. The list includes 32 doctors across the province.

The doctors included Dr Muhammad Javed, Dr Aurangezeb Khattak, Dr Azam Khan, Dr Pug Chand, Dr Abbass Tariq, Dr Mujahid Akbar Khan, Dr Akhunzada Shinwari, Dr Shah Alam Khan, Dr Hayat Ali Khan, Dr Naseer Haider, Dr Fazal Mabood, Dr Abdul Qayyum Mahsud, Dr Gul Marjan Burki, Dr Mehreen, Dr Waheed Khan, Dr Sibtain Anwar, Dr Hidayat Wazir, Dr Sultan Zeb, Dr Bashir, Dr Adnan Haleem, Dr Faisal Qureshi, Dr Khalil, Dr Shamsul Hussan, Dr Raja Asif, Dr Javed Iqbal, Dr Muhammad Farooq, Dr Anwar Ali Shah, Dr Alia Sarfraz, Dr Syed Athar Ghani, Dr Zebun Nisa, Dr Hussan Shehzad and Prof Dr Almas Afridi.

Three of them hailed from Abbottabad — Dr Faisal Qureshi, Dr Raja Asif and Dr Hussan Shehzad.