Corona death toll mounts as 59 more die

ISLAMABAD: The total active COVID-19 cases in the country on Sunday were recorded 36,683, as 2,665 more people tested positive during the last 24 hours.

A total of 59 corona patients lost their lives, out of whom 54 died in hospitals on Saturday, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC).No COVID affected person was on ventilator in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, while 265 ventilators elsewhere in Pakistan were occupied, out of 1,803 allocated for COVID-19 patients.

Around 38,983 tests were conducted across the country on Saturday, including 11,537 in Sindh, 13,865 in Punjab, 4,836 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 7,098 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 697 in Balochistan, 313 in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), and 637 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Around 329,828 people have recovered so far across Pakistan, making it a significant count.

A total of 374,173 cases have been detected since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country including 6,000 in AJK, 16,744 in Balochistan, 4,526 in GB, 26,569 in ICT, 44,097 in KP, 114,010 in Punjab and 162,227 in Sindh.

About 7,662 deaths have been recorded since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,816 in Sindh of whom 15 died in hospital and two out of hospital on Saturday, 2,848 in Punjab out of whom 21 died in hospital and one out of hospital on Saturday, 1,325 in KP out of whom two died in hospital on Saturday, 278 in ICT out of whom eight died in hospital on Saturday, 161 in Balochistan out of whom thee died in hospital on Saturday, 94 in GB of whom one died in hospital on Saturday, and 140 in AJK of whom four died in hospital and two out of hospital on Saturday.

So far, around 5,180,026 tests have been conducted.

Meanwhile, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood Sunday said all decisions pertaining to the closure of schools amid rising coronavirus cases in Pakistan will be announced on Monday (today).

"To all those eagerly awaiting the outcome of tomorrow's inter provincial education ministers meeting: I will be holding a press conference at 12:30pm after the conclusion of the meeting," he wrote.

Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas has said that he will take a "sensible" decision regarding the province's educational institutions, as "lives matter the most".

"Lives matter the most. Zero pressure on me from either side. Sensible decisions have to be made," the minister added.

"If I close the schools people are not happy. If I keep the schools open people are not happy. Let me just inform everyone that decision will be made on DATA that is being given to me," Raas said in a tweet.