Failure of KP Government, lack of following SOPs and People not following government directions.
K-P province to ascertain high virus death rate causes
PESHAWAR: The provincial health department has decided to conduct a research on the factors behind the high Covid-19 mortality rate in the provincial capital.
A source at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Health Department informed that a panel of clinical experts has been formed to ascertain the factors behind the high coronavirus death rate in Peshawar.
The source added that senior physician Dr Amjad Mehbood would head the panel which will study different factors including the ages of deceased, other ailments and other related facts. Further, it would also study that at what stages patients were brought to the hospitals and what kind of treatment they were provided.
The health department has already directed all the major hospitals in the provincial capital to provide charts comprising data of the fatalities caused by the Covid-19, the source informed.
Results derived from such a research conducted earlier on an administrative basis had suggested that most of the fatalities were recorded among sexagenarians.
The probe on the administrative level highlighted that the deceased had other ailments besides contracting the pandemic virus.
Explaining the Covid-19 situation in K-P as compared to other provinces, the source said that mortality rate in the province is higher than the rest of the country. As many as 3,129 confirmed coronavirus patients have been reported so far in the province, out of which 180 people have died. Further, the mortality rate in Peshawar city is also 9.3 per cent, the highest when compared to rest of the province. Amongst 1, 197 infected patients in the provincial capital, 111 succumbed to the pandemic virus. The Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) has so far reported 97 Covid-19 deaths.
The research panel would also prepare guidelines for the hospitals regarding the dead from the coronavirus. The report is expected to be forwarded to the government next week.
Meanwhile, the K-P Health Department issued guidelines for the burial of Covid-19 victims. As per the guidelines, prior to departure disinfectants should be prepared and all necessary equipment including PPE should be assembled. One pair of disposable gloves (non-sterile, ambidextrous), one pair of heavy-duty gloves, disposable gown, and face protection: goggles and surgical mask, footwear: shoes with puncture-resistant soles and disposable overshoes should be provided to those conducting the burial.
The burial management team (including family members involved in the bathing) should put on all PPE including shoe covers, gown, face mask and safety goggles and gloves.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2020.
