By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Amid coronavirus resurgence across the country, Pakistan has reported 59 deaths on Sunday, the highest daily coronavirus toll in four months.
According to data provided by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), about 38,983 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours out of which 2,665 people were declared COVID-19 positive. With another 59 coronavirus deaths, the country’s overall death toll has now hit 7,662 with the positivity rate recorded at 6.8% during the last 24 hours. In the first coronavirus wave, a high of 2,769 cases was reported in Pakistan in a single day on July 13, after which the number has now hit 2,665 in about four months.
According to the official portal, the total number of cases has reached 374,173. In addition, 897 patients across the country have recovered from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. After a meeting on the coronavirus situation, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced a ban on indoor weddings and large public gatherings in a televised address to the nation. The ban came into effect on Friday.
The premier had said that the government was also considering early and extended winter vacations. “If corona cases are found on the rise because of the schools, then the government may increase the duration of winter vacations,” he maintained.
The development came on the back of the NCOC’s recommendations to ban public gatherings exceeding 300 people, allowing outdoor dining and takeaway till 10pm, closing down cinemas, theatres, and shrines, and closing markets early with “safe days”. The NCOC had also directed public and private companies to implement a 50% “work from home” policy. Global COVID cases: In latest update released by Johns Hopkins on Sunday, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 58,035,296 and 1,379,508, respectively.
The US is the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 12,079,296 and 255,804, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 9,050,597, while the country’s death toll soared to 132,726. The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil 6,020,164, France 2,178,023, Russia 2,047,563, Spain 1,556,730, the UK 1,497,129, Argentina 1,366,182, Italy 1,380,531, Colombia 1,240,493 and Mexico 1,025,969, the CSSE figures showed.
