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Confirmed cases rise to 338,875 against 316,665 recoveries and 6,893 deaths, leaving 15,317 active cases
Pakistan on Thursday reported 1,302 infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 32,376 tests—a positivity ratio of 4.02 percent.
Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on Thursday chaired a meeting of provincial education ministers and announced that the COVID-19 situation was “under control” and no educational institutions would be shut to curb the spread of the virus. He announced that reports of schools and colleges being shut down were “absolutely false,” and claimed adoption of SOPs was sufficient to prevent the pandemic from surging.
Pakistan’s health authorities have been sounding the alarm about a second wave of the virus for several weeks now. Daily infections and deaths are once more on the rise, raising fears that disease is making a comeback as the public becomes more apathetic toward social distancing measures. Meanwhile, the country has yet to fully utilize its claimed testing capacity of 73,472 and is currently testing significantly below numbers proposed by global health experts. According to WHO, Pakistan’s testing policies likely only record the most symptomatic patients while ignoring the spread among asymptomatic carriers, which recent studies have suggested comprise the majority of infections in the country.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 338,875 (Tests: 4,573,768)
Punjab – 105,535
Sindh – 147,787
Balochistan – 16,026
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 40,022
Islamabad – 20,694
Gilgit-Baltistan – 4,320
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 4,491
Deaths – 6,893
Recoveries – 316,665
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Thursday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 338,875. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 26 to 6,893. At the same time, recoveries increased by 605 to 316,665, or 93.4 percent of total infections. There are currently 15,317 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC reporting 827 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Thursday, authorities reported 5 new deaths due to COVID-19, raising fatalities to 2,385. The province raised its confirmed cases to 105,535 with 338 new infections after conducting 11,875 tests. Meanwhile, its recoveries have increased by 17 to 97,532. There are now 5,618 active cases of the virus in the province.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh on Thursday rose by 492 to 147,787 after conducting 9,531 tests. The province reported 8 new deaths, raising toll to 2,647, while its recoveries rose by 357 to 139,633. Overall, the province now has 5,507 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Thursday reported 3 death, raising toll to 1,284. In the past 24 hours, its recoveries rose by 19 to 37,823 while its confirmed cases have increased by 133 to 40,022 after conducting 2,813 tests. The province currently has 915 active cases of coronavirus.
Balochistan
The province on Thursday raised its confirmed cases to 16,026 with 26 new infections after conducting 598 tests. There were no new deaths and 14 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 152 fatalities and 15,633 recoveries. There are now 241 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Thursday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 223 to 20,694 after conducting 6,449 tests. There were 5 new deaths and 127 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 229 casualties; 18,505 recoveries; and 1,960 active cases.
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday increased by 14 to 4,320 after conducting 405 tests. The region reported no new deaths and 18 recoveries, leaving 92 fatalities and 4,058 recoveries. There are currently 170 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, 707 tests were conducted, raising confirmed cases by 76 to 4,491. There were 53 recoveries and 5 deaths in the past 24 hours, leaving 104 fatalities and 3,481 fully recovered. It now has 906 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 48,479,576 people, with over 1,231,699 reported deaths. Governments across the word halted flights, locked down towns and cities and urged people to stay at home at the peak of the virus’s spread, but have since eased restrictions to help shuttered economies rebound. With a second wave now emerging, countries with new spikes have started to re-impose movement restrictions. Overall, around 34,701,919 patients of the 48.4 million+ infected have recovered thus far.