ISLAMABAD: The total active COVID-19 cases in the country were Friday recorded 33,562, as 2,738 more people tested positive during the last 24 hours. A total of 36 corona patients lost their lives, out of whom 32 died in hospitals, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC). No affected person was on ventilator in Balochistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), while 230 out of 1,793 ventilators allocated for the corona patients were occupied. Some 42,909 tests were conducted across the country during the last 24 hours, including 14,470 in Sindh, 16,297 in Punjab, 4,269 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 6,153 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 704 in Balochistan, 198 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and 818 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), media reports say.
Around 327,542 people have recovered so far across the country making it a significant count.
Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 368,665 cases have been detected so far, including 5,806 in AJK, 16,642 in Balochistan, 4,494 in GB, 25,719 in ICT, 43,359 in KP, 112, 893 in Punjab and 159,752 in Sindh.
About 7,561 deaths have been recorded in the country since the outbreak of the contagion, including 2,780 in Sindh of whom 12 died in hospital and four out of hospital on Thursday, 2,811 in Punjab of whom 15 died in hospital, 1,319 in KP of whom one died in hospital on Thursday, 266 in ICT of whom one died in hospital on Thursday, 158 in Balochistan, 93 in GB and 134 in AJK of whom two died in hospital on Thursday.
So far, around 5,098,291 tests have been conducted
Meanwhile, Administrator Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani Friday announced that smart and micro lockdowns would be imposed in all districts of the city on Friday or Saturday, as cases were rising.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Shallwani.
"Micro lockdowns will be imposed in districts Malir and Korangi," said Shallwani.
"All deputy commissioners should consult their respective health officers [on the lockdowns]. The notification announcing the lockdown should be released by today or tomorrow," he added.
Shallwani said Karachi's districts south, east, central and west will release notifications announcing the imposition of smart lockdowns by tomorrow (Saturday).
With 42,909 tests conducted across Pakistan, the positivity rate has reached 6.3%.
Meanwhile, the AJK authorities Friday joined heads in a meeting to review the latest corona situation and took exceptional decisions to save the precious lives of people.
AJK Prime Minister Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan was in the chair.
The meeting decided to completely implement the decisions of the cabinet to protect the lives of the people against the pandemic.
Wearing masks has been made compulsory while Youm-e-Dua will be observed on Monday.
SOPs will be observed during prayers and offering Namaz-e-Janaza.
Special cards will be issued to the employees, including those working in the civil secretariat, while limited clerical staff will be allowed to perform their duties in the educational institutions.
The overseas Kashmiri will be requested to postpone their visit to Azad Kashmir in view of the grave situation of the corona pandemic.
Director General Health AJK briefed the meeting about the latest situation of pandemic and said the second phase of the virus was more dangerous than that of the previous one and serious decisions were needed to meet the challenges of the second phase of the pandemic.
Raja Farooq Haider said the cabinet had unanimously decided to implement the lockdown from Nov 21 night.
He appealed to the people to observe Youm-e-Dua on Monday and maintain social distance.
He said the writ of the government will be maintained and violators will be dealt with according to the law.
