The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan rose to 2,709 on Saturday, after more cases were reported in Islamabad, Punjab , Sindh and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Sindh which entered 13th day of lockdown, reported 14 deaths and 839 cases as of Saturday.
Punjab, leading the tally of confirmed cases, noted 1,072 cases and 11 deaths.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 343 coronavirus cases and 11 fatalities, while Gilgit-Baltistan had three deaths and 193 infections.
The federal capital territory recorded 75 cases of the coronavirus and Azad Jammu and Kashmir reported 12 cases as of today.
The country has also reported 40 deaths from the virus.
Karachi lockdown
Karachi entered its 13th straight day of lockdown today to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus across the city. Businesses remained shut, traffic suspended, and shopping malls closed.
Under a health advisory issued by the Sindh government, people also remained indoors. General stores, fruit and vegetable shops, and pharmacies, however, remained open to cater to essential needs of citizens.
Punjab health minister meets Chinese officials
Punjab Minister for Health Yasmin Rashid on Saturday met a group of medical experts from China who are in the city to advise health professionals on how to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in the province.
Chief Minister Usman Buzdar is also expected to meet the Chinese experts later today.
'Balance between lockdown and economy'
Earlier today, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan was walking a ‘tight rope’ to strike a balance between a lockdown necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus and ensuring its people do not die of hunger and its economy does not collapse.
Simultaneously, the prime minister noted that the government has locked down the educational institutions, malls, marriage halls, restaurants and other places of congregation.
“But, to stop the devastation of the lockdown we have kept our agri sector open & now we are opening up our construction sector,” he mentioned.
Global situation
The worldwide number of officially confirmed fatalities from the novel coronavirus rose above 59,000 on Saturday, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources.
More than one million declared cases have been registered in 200 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December.
Of these cases, at least 228,000 are now considered recovered.