PESHAWAR                  -                 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Tuesday visited dis­trict Charsadda to review the corona sit­uation and the measures taken by the district administration to effectively deal with the prevailing situation.

During his visit, the Chief Minister vis­ited Quarantine Center established at Sports Complex Charsadda, dedicated isolation wards set up at Women and Children Hospital Rajjar and Ehsas Cash Distribution point at Government High School Rajjar.

Provincial Minister for Law and Parlia­mentary Affairs Sultan Khan, Special As­sistant to CM on Minerals Arif Ahmadzai, Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr Kazim Niaz and elected members of the national and provincial assemblies from district Charsadda were also accompa­nied the Chief Minister.

While briefing the Chief Minister re­garding the prevailing situation of coro­na in the district and the arrangements made by the District Administration, Deputy Commissioner Adeel Shah told that there were total 24 confirmed and 146 suspected cases in Charsadda, 102 tests have been reported negative whereas results of twenty others are still awaited adding that no death case has yet been reported in the district.

He further informed that isolation wards had been spared for corona pa­tients in five different hospitals of the district while quarantine centers have been set up in nine different locations with a total capacity of 224 rooms equipped with all the required facilities as per the standard protocols.

The Chief Minister was further in­formed that besides a 24/7 Control Room at district level, Rapid Response Teams have been raised at all Tehsil and Union Council level to respond to any emergen­cy situation anywhere in the district.

The Deputy Commissioner also in­formed that 2630 people with foreign travel history had been traced and con­tacted across the district and except one, all of them are clear with regard to Co­rona Virus.

While talking to media on the occa­sion, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said that the government was taking all pos­sible measures to provide maximum re­lief to the vulnerable segments of society effected due to lockdown and social dis­tancing measures in the prevailing situ­ation adding that under the Ehsas Emer­gency Cash Program, almost 2.2 million deserving families of the province are being provided a cash amount of Rs. 12000 each to mitigate their sufferings.

“The cash amount being distribut­ed under the program is only meant for the deserving families and it will be giv­en to those deserving and entitled fam­ilies only” the Chief Minister stated and made it clear that no one else would be allowed to retain even a single penny out of this amount and if anyone was found involved in such practice, would be dealt with iron hands.

About the latest situation of coro­na testing capacity in the province Mahmood Khan said that there was a ca­pacity of 500 tests per day adding that steps are being taken on emergency footings to increase the testing capacity to 2000 per day.

Mahmood Khan appreciated the role of health workers, civil administration, army, police and other relevant bodies in the fight against corona and urged upon the public to extend maximum coopera­tion to the administration with regard to the implementation of its measures re­garding social distancing saying that all such measures were meant just to pro­tect the lives of people.

He maintained that the government’s efforts to contain the outbreak of the pandemic would not yield the desired results without the support and cooper­ation of the general public.

Later on the Chief Minister paid a visit to Ehsaas Emergency Cash Distribution Point set up at Government High School Rajjar to review the cash distribution process and arrangements made there­in to facilitate the people.