COVID-19 claim lives of 162 healthcare workers in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: As many as 162 healthcare workers have lost their lives while battling the deadly outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, quoting sources ARY News reported on Saturday.

According to sources at Ministry of National Health, so far 16,492 healthcare workers have contracted coronavirus, including 9,851 doctors, 2,351 nurses and 4,290 other staff of hospitals.

Overall 15,992 medical workers have recovered from the virus while 322 are under isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 at homes and 16 under treatment at hospitals, the ministry’s sources said.

Most of the medical workers infected by the virus and deceased belong to Sindh. As per the province-wise breakup, in Sindh, 5,803 health workers were infected by coronavirus while 56 died in the disease. In Punjab, 3,477 healthcare workers contracted the coronavirus and 29 of them died. In KP, 3,935 healthcare workers were diagnosed with the Covid-19 and 43 of them died.

In Islamabad, 1,501 medical workers contracted the coronavirus and 13 of them died. In Balochistan 822 healthcare workers and in Azad Kashmir 724 health workers contracted the coronavirus and 09 of them died in each region. While in Gilgit-Baltistan, 230 medical workers contracted coronavirus and three of them died.

The Covid-19 pandemic killed 57 more people in Pakistan during the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide death toll to 21,633.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, the country’s caseload climbed to 939,931 after 1,194 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during this period.

The 1,194 new infections emerged when 35,695 tests were conducted with positive cases rate recorded at 3.334 per cent, the NCOC said.

On Friday, the NCOC decided to speed up vaccination of citizens against Covid-19 in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.

In a statement on his official Twitter account, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said that the federal government will set up mass vaccination centres and mobile vaccination teams for the purpose.