By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has confirmed 83 deaths in a single day by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 237,489. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 4,922 on Wednesday.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 2,980 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours.
Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.
Till now 97,626 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 83,599 in Punjab, 28,681 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 10,919 in Balochistan, 13,650 in Islamabad, 1,595 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 1,419 in Azad Kashmir.
Furthermore 1,929 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 1,614 in Sindh, 1,045 in KP, 124 in Balochistan, 140 in Islamabad, 30 in GB and 40 in Azad Kashmir. Patients are under treatment at quarantine centers of 462 hospitals where 7,295 beds are available. Pakistan has so far conducted 1,467,104 coronavirus tests and 21,951 in last 24hours. 140,965 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,236 patients are in critical condition.Sindh reported 1,736 new cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and 22 associated deaths, taking the total number of infections in the province to 99,362 and fatalities to 1637.
Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement on the coronavirus situation said that as many as 9,318 samples were tested for the presence of the highly contagious disease over the previous 24 hours. A total of 233,540 tests have been conducted in the province so far.
The chief minister said that 41,352 coronavirus patients are undergoing treatment in Sindh, including 39,199 quarantined at homes, 352 at isolation centres and 1,801 at hospitals. 655 of the patients under treatment at hospitals are in critical condition and 75 of them are on ventilators, he said, adding 1,697 more Covid-19 patients recuperated, taking the number of recovered patients to 56,373. Of the total 1763 new cases detected in the province in the past 24 hours, 764 were detected in Karachi. In District South of Karachi 317 cases were reported, 179 in District East,110 cases in District Central, 58 in Korangi district, 64 in Malir and 35 cases reported in District West of the city.
As many as 930 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in Punjab in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the province to 83,599.
According to details, 30 more people died due to complications related to the virus, taking the death toll in the province to 1,929. More than 50,900 patients have so far been cured of the disease in the province. More than 550,00 tests have been conducted in the province thus far.
It is pertinent to mention here that the district administration has decided to enforce lockdown in seven more areas of Lahore after increasing number ofcoronavirus patients were reported from these areas. Deputy Commissioner Lahore Danish Afzaal has announced ‘smart lockdown’ in these localities of the city for a week from this midnight at 12:00 AM.
As many as 1,736 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in the province overnight, taking the virus tally to 99,362, revealed Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday. In a statement, he added that 23 more people had also succumbed to the contagious disease, pushing the provincial death toll to 1,637.
