Another doctor dies of coronavirus in Pakistan

Another doctor died of coronavirus during the past 24 hours, raising the death toll among healthcare professionals to 11, the Ministry of National Health Services said on Saturday.

The latest official figures also show that the number of infected healthcare workers had jumped to 736 after another 24 tested positive for the virus.

According to the report, 422 doctors have so far been infected while the virus is also found in 104 nurses. Meanwhile, the number of other staff testing positive of coronavirus is 210.

As far as geographical distribution is concerned, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tops the list with 186 cases. It is followed by Punjab 184, Balochistan 136, Sindh 134 and Islamabad 71. The remaining 25 cases have been recorded in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

The report says 164 of them fully recovered from the infection while 203 are under treatment in hospitals. The remaining 358 have been quarantined at their homes of other places.

The high number of cases being reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is very alarming given the relative size of health staff members in these provinces, which maybe a result of lack of personal protection equipment.

Similarly, the cases in the federal capital doesn’t match with the number of health facilities and healthcare staff in the region.