Corona cases up, deaths multiply too

ISLAMABAD: The total active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Sunday were recorded at 8,904 as 666 more people tested positive for the virus during the last 24 hours.

Twelve corona patients, 11 of whom were under treatment, died in hospital and one died out of hospital on Saturday, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). No COVID-19 affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Balochistan, while 77 were on ventilators elsewhere in Pakistan out of 1,912 allocated for COVID-19 patients.

Some 28,893 tests were conducted across the country on Saturday, including 7,515 in Sindh, 11,185 in Punjab, 3,720 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4,541 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 948 in Balochistan, 450 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and 534 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Around 303,458 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 318,932 cases have been detected so far, including 3,045 in AJK, 15,520 in Balochistan, 3,924 in GB, 17,296 in ICT, 38,329 in KP, 100,687 in Punjab and 140,131 in Sindh. About 6,570 deaths were recorded in the country since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,549 in Sindh, among them six died in hospital on Saturday, 2,257 in Punjab, four of them died in hospital and one out of hospital on Saturday, 1,263 in KP, 188 in ICT, 146 in Balochistan, 89 in GBand 78 in AJK, one of them in died in hospital on Saturday.

A total of 3,857,845 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 735 hospitals are equipped with COVID-19 treatment facilities. Some 779 corona patients are now admitted to hospitals across the country.

Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar expressed concerns over rising cases of COVID-19, saying that the government had started imposing smart lockdown again to contain the spread of the pandemic.

In a tweet, Asad Umar who also chairs the meeting of the NCOC on coronavirus, said that during previous six weeks, the average positivity ratio of COVID-19 was under 2 percent, however in the outgoing week, the positivity rate went above 2 percent that was a matter of concern.

“In order to avoid the increase in cases in the country, we have already imposed mini smart lockdown in Islamabad, Karachi, and Azad Kashmir,” he said. Besides, he informed that the administration had also been directed to ensure protective measures across the country. He however pointed out that as before, success was not possible without cooperation of the public.