PESHAWAR: The third wave of the coronavirus is intensifying in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with Peshawar showing 22 percent positivity rate and Swat 23 percent.

It is an alarming scenario for KP and the government is mulling over stricter actions in areas with higher ratio of corona cases.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday identified 19 districts of the country that have a high positivity ratio.

These include Peshawar (22 percent), Swat (23 percent), Nowshera (19 percent), Swabi and Malakand (12 percent), Dir Lower (8 percent), Lahore (17 percent), Rawalpindi and Faisalabad (15 percent), Sargodha, Sialkot and Multan (12 percent), Mandi Bahauddin (11 percent), Gujranwala (10 percent), Okara, Rahim Yar Khan and Toba Tek Singh (9 percent), Bahawalpur (8 percent), and Gujrat (7 percent).

The overall positivity rate in Pakistan has mounted to 11 percent, while the rising trend is continuing amid carelessness on part of masses regarding standard operating procedures (SOPs). It is widely believed that the actual number of coronavirus infections may be much higher than the official figures as many people still prefer not to go for corona test.

The NCOC data showed that 40,369 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours out of which 4,525 returned positive, taking the national positivity ratio to 11.21 percent. The total tally of positive coronavirus cases has mounted to 659,116. Out of these cases, 264,889 have been reported in Sindh, 215,227 in Punjab, 85,531 in KP, 56,450 in Islamabad, 19,525 in Balochistan, 12,484 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 5,010 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

At present, the total active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan are 46,663, while 598,197 have recovered. During last 24 hours, 41 people died of coronavirus in Pakistan. The new deaths took the countrywide death toll to 14,256 including 6,246 in Punjab, 4,491 in Sindh, 2,301 in KP, 561 in Islamabad, 206 in Balochistan, 348 in AJK and 103 in GB.

Owing to increasing corona cases, the out-patient department of the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), the largest public sector hospital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been closed again. A spokesman for the hospital said OPD services cannot be provided during the corona emergency situation.