38 tested positive at DI Khan centre

The number of infected persons is on the rise in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as 38 of those quarantined in Dera Ismail Khan were tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday.

According to Dr Majid – focal person for Dera Ismail Khan, the results of 80 tests conducted at the Gomal Medical College quarantine centre were received, out of which 38 were positive and another 38 negative. Meanwhile, four tests would be sent back for final results.

A total of 281 people are being housed in the centre and Dr Majid said the tests of the remaining people would be carried out soon.

Later in the day, Ajmal Wazir, adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, told a press conference that the persons tested positive in Dera Ismail Khan were the pilgrims returning from Iran and no case had been reported in the city.

About the situation in the Manga village of Mardan, Wazir, who was accompanying Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, said the area was in complete lockdown.

Earlier in the day, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra revealed that the 39 people out of a total of 46 were tested positive in Manga – the area where the first death because of the coronavirus in the country was recorded. Those who had been tested positive were asymptomatic, he added.

Meanwhile, the chief minister, addressing the press conference, said the provincial government had hired 1,300 doctors on contract and would recruit another 2,000 to fight the coronavirus.