ISLAMABAD: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 32,044 on Monday after new infections were confirmed.
The country reported a total of 32,044 confirmed cases and 706 deaths as of 1:25am. Of 32,044 confirmed cases, Sindh reported 12,017 cases, Punjab 11,568, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4,875, Balochistan 2,061, Islamabad Capital Territory 679, Gilgit-Baltistan 457, and AJK 86.
Of 706 deaths, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 257, Sindh 200, Balochistan 27, Gilgit-Baltistan 4, Punjab 211, and Islamabad Capital Territory 6.
Meanwhile, the recovery ratio of Covid-19 patients stands at 37.37 percent in Punjab as 4,323 patients recovered out of 11,568 infected by the novel coronavirus since the outbreak of pandemic in the country.
The death of five more patients Monday raised the death toll to 197 in Punjab, while confirmed cases of coronavirus raced to 11,568 with the addition of 475 new infections in the province.
Out of the total 197 fatalities in Punjab till date, as many as 69 occurred in Lahore, 36 in Multan, 34 in Rawalpindi, 21 in Gujranwala, 13 in Faisalabad, four each in Rahim Yar Khan and Sargodha, three in Gujrat, two each in Bahawalpur and Toba Tek Singh and one each in Attock, Hafizabad, Jhang, Sahiwal, Nankana Sahib, Sialkot, Layyah, Sheikhupura and Narowal.
Out of total 11,568 Covid-19 patients in Punjab so far, as many as 1,926 are preachers of Tableeghi Jamaat, 768 pilgrims, who returned from Iran, 86 prisoners in nine districts and 8,788 citizens who mostly have fallen prey to local transmission.
Out of the collective figure of citizens, prisoners and those isolated at quarantine facilities in Punjab, the highest number of 5,511 cases have been confirmed in Lahore alone, which has become an epicentre of coronavirus with 262 new cases, 69 deaths, 59 prisoners and 5,452 common citizens plus quarantined patients.
Besides, as many as 893 patients are diagnosed with Covid-19 in Multan, 685 in Gujranwala, 650 in Rawalpindi, 507 in Gujrat, 441 in Faisalabad, 421 in Sialkot, 294 in Sargodha, 269 in DG Khan, 176 in Muzaffargarh, 151 in Rahim Yar Khan, 136 in Jhelum, 120 in Bahawalpur, 112 in Hafizabad, 125 in Lodhran, 104 in Vehari, 93 in Bhakkar, 85 in Kasur, 74 in Sheikhupura, 74 in Mandi Bahauddin, 70 in Narowal, 67 in Khushab, 59 in Jhang, 55 in Attock, 50 in Nankana Sahib, 47 in Bahawalnagar, 46 in Layyah, 40 in Chiniot, 37 in Pakpattan, 32 each in Okara and Sahiwal, 31 in Mianwali, 22 in Toba Tek Singh, 18 in Khanewal and 10 in Chakwal.
According to focal person of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, as many as 130,546 tests have been performed resulting in detection of 11,568 as Covid-19 positive. As many as 4,323 patients have recovered and returned home. Out of the 1,252 healthcare providers tested for coronavirus, as many as 184 have been diagnosed positive.
Meanwhile, amid ease in lockdown and serious violations of safety measures, 12 more people died of coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.
In addition, 206 people tested positive for the viral infection that brought the death toll from the virus to 257 in the province, the highest number of people died in any province so far. The fresh 206 positive cases brought the number of infected people to 4,875 in KP.
Of 12 people, who died of coronavirus, six of them were reported from Peshawar, raising fatalities in the provincial capital from Covid-19 to 155, the highest number of people died from the disease in any city of the country.
Peshawar also reported 29 more confirmed positive cases, that brought the total number of positive cases from the provincial capital to 1,918. Three people lost lives to coronavirus in Mardan, and one each died in Charsadda, Swat, and Lower Dir.
After a brief improvement, the situation is again alarming in Mardan where 44 people tested positive for coronavirus. The district administration reportedly couldn’t implement the standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the lockdown in the city, where business and commercial activities remained open.
According to the government report, 16 people had died of coronavirus in Mardan and 273 were diagnosed with the virus since the outbreak of the disease. Swat with 22 fatalities and 366 positive cases is still second in the province after Peshawar.
According to officials, many residents of the Swat valley had recently returned there from Karachi and abroad that is believed to have spread the virus to the local community.
It recorded 15 more positive cases of coronavirus on Monday. The Malakand district in the Malakand Division reported 14 positive cases that brought the total number of infected people to 251.
In Malakand district, six people have died of coronavirus so far. In the Peshawar Division, which has suffered the most in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 168 people have died of coronavirus and 2183 other have tested positive.
The Case Fatality Rate (CFR) in Pakistan: 2.15 as compared to yesterday’s 2.16 confirmed cases: 30941 that is 1476 new confirmed cases, deaths: 667 that is 28 new deaths)
CFR in KP: 5.27 as compared to yesterday’s 5.24 (highest in the country) confirmed cases: 4875 that is 206 new confirmed cases, deaths: 257 that is 12 new deaths which is still the most in the country). CFR in Peshawar: 8.08 as compared to yesterday’s 7.88 (the most in any city of Pakistan) (confirmed cases: 1918 that is 27 new confirmed cases, deaths: 155 that is 06 new deaths which is still the most in the province).
The CFR has decreased in Pakistan as compared to Sunday but it has again increased in KP and Peshawar as compared to Sunday.
In Pakistan, 28 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours and 12 of them are from KP, meaning that the province has contributed 43 percent of the deaths occurred in the country in the last 24 hours, whereas Peshawar alone has contributed six deaths among the overall deaths occurred in the country in the last 24 hours.
It proved that Peshawar alone has contributed 21 percent of the total deaths during the last 24 hours, so the situation is particularly very dismal, bleak and worse in KP in general and in Peshawar in particular.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah said Monday that the standard operational procedure (SOP) to curb the spread of COVID-19 were violated as markets reopened today after the lockdown was eased.
Markets were allowed to open across the province from today after an agreement with the traders that they would ensure implementation of safety measures. The permission was given after the National Cordination Committee decision to ease lockdown restrictions in the country.
Expressing concern over the situation, CM Shah said, “the markets have been opened under an SOP but sorry to [see that] most of the shops and markets were crowded.”
“He hoped that the people would understand [the gravity of the] situation and would follow the SOP,” the statement read.
The chief minister said that cases were spiking in the city, therefore he has decided to establish a COVID-19 hospital in Gulshan-E-Iqbal for which he has released Rs1.8 billion. “It will be a 400-bedded hospital with a 100-bedded ventilator facility,” he said.
Meanwhile, informing about the current situation of the pandemic he said 537 new cases of the novel coronavirus had emerged in Sindh over the past twenty-four hours, which was 14% of the testing capacity of the province.
CM Shah further said that out of the confirmed infections over the past day, 432 belonged to Karachi. 11 people were also confirmed to have passed away from the virus across the province over the past day.
The death toll from the virus in Sindh reached 200 a a result, CM Shah told the media. 22 new virus infections were confirmed in Sukkur, 19 in Shikarpur, 7 in Larkana and 4 Hyderabad, the chief minister said.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 claimed the first casualty in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) during last 24 hours.
The AJK Health Department reported that the first deceased was 86 years old man who died in Muzaffarabad late Sunday.
No new case of coronavirus was reported in Azad Jammu Kashmir during last 24 hours, the department reported.
The total number of patients were 86, AJK Health department said, adding that blood samples of 55 new suspects were tested.
