Pakistan virus cases cross 58,000 with over 1,200 deaths

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 58,278 on Tuesday after new infections were confirmed in the country, while the death toll reached 1,202.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre, 20,654 cases have so far been detected in Punjab; 23,507 in Sindh; 8,080 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP); 3,468 in Balochistan; 1,728 in Islamabad; 630 in Gilgit-Baltistan; and 211 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

About 18,314 patients have so far recovered from the virus. Among the 1,202 fatalities, 352 patients died in Punjab; 374 in Sindh; 408 in KP; 41 in Balochistan; 17 in Islamabad Capital Territory; eight in Gilgit-Baltistan; and two in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Tuesday five Covid-19 patients died over the past 24 hours as 573 new cases of the virus emerged across the province.

According to a statement issued by the Chief Minister House, 2,327 samples were tested for the virus over the past 24 hours, of which 573 results came back positive at 24.6 per cent. The government has so far tested 1,61,628 samples which have produced 23,507 positives cases.

The death toll in the province rose to 374 as five more patients passed away due to the virus in a single day. The chief minister added that at present 248 patients were in critical condition, of whom 49 had been put on ventilators.

Shah said 542 patients had recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours taking the total tally to 8,515. “Our recovery ratio from coronavirus is 37 per cent,” he disclosed.

The chief minister once again urged people to stay at their homes, avoid shaking hands and crowding. “This is the only way to contain the coronavirus,” he added.

Separately, Adviser to KP Chief Minister on Information Ajmal Khan Wazir has appealed to coronavirus patients who recovered from the infection to donate blood plasma.

Talking to the media in Peshawar, he said Hayatabad Medical Complex has already started plasma transfusion trials to treat Covid-19 patients and two doctors had also donated blood plasma.

Wazir said lockdown was eased keeping in view the economic situation of the people but added if precautionary measures were ignored the virus will spread and the government would be compelled to take tough decisions.