Peshawar doctor succumbs to coronavirus, raising death toll of medics to 18

PESHAWAR: Another doctor succumbed to the deadly coronavirus in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital after days of battling for his life on the ventilator, an official confirmed on Sunday.

His death has raised Pakistan's death toll of medics who died of the infection to 18.

Dr Aurangzeb, a senior pathologist at Police Services Hospital, Peshawar, was on the ventilator for the last four days, according to Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) Director Dr Shahzad Akbar, and passed away today.

Hospital officials said Dr Aurangzeb was also diabetic.

With the pathologist's death today, the total number of doctors who have succumbed to the coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has risen to four, the provincial doctors' association noted.

Also read: 17 healthcare workers die of coronavirus in Pakistan

KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan expressed grief over the demise of Dr Aurangzeb, saying doctors are "busy saving others' lives by putting their own lives in danger".

"The services of doctors in treating coronavirus patients are commendable," Khan said. "Every possible help will be given to the families of the doctors who died of coronavirus."

1,904 healthcare workers infected

The novel coronavirus has so far infected 1,904 healthcare workers in Pakistan and 17 have died since the outbreak first emerged, according to official data in Geo News report on Saturday.

The new data provides sobering evidence that doctors, paramedics, nurses, and other healthcare providers are working in high-risk areas without adequate protection gear.

In Sindh, 538 healthcare professional have tested positive for the coronavirus and eight have died, a report by the ministry of national health services dated May 29 stated.

Related: 138 nurses test positive for virus in KP

Similarly, in Punjab, 341 healthcare workers have been infected to date. There have been no deaths in the healthcare sector.

However, the Punjab chapter of the Young Doctors Association (YDA), the largest union of doctors in the country, told Geo.tv that seven healthcare professional have died in the province.

In Balochistan, 237 have been infected and two have died, as per official data. Although, the director-general health in the province told Geo.tv that seven healthcare providers have died and 280 are infected.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the largest majority, 552, have tested positive, while four have died.

Separately, 42 healthcare providers have contracted the virus in Gilgit-Baltistan, while two have died. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, nine have been infected. There have been no deaths reported so far.

In Islamabad, 185 medics have the virus whereas one death was reported from the capital.