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Overall death toll climbs to 4,473 against 104,694 recoveries, leaving 108,642 active and 217,809 confirmed cases of the virus
Pakistan on Thursday reported 4,339 new infections of the novel coronavirus, raising to 217,809 the total confirmed cases of the deadly disease in the country.
The country continues to test far below its claimed capacity of 71,780—and significantly below the numbers proposed by global health experts—having only conducted 22,128 tests in the past 24 hours, a positivity ratio of 19.6 percent. According to the World Health Organization, any country with a positivity ratio over 5 percent is likely only testing the most symptomatic patients and ignoring asymptomatic infections, which can significantly boost the spread of the virus.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 217,809 (Tests: 1,327,638)
Punjab – 77,740 (Tests: 509,932)
Sindh – 86,795 (Tests: 461,393)
Balochistan – 10,608 (Tests: 49,694)
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 26,938 (Tests: 148,572)
Islamabad – 13,082 (Tests: 126,014)
Gilgit-Baltistan – 1,511 (Tests: 15,422)
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 1,135 (Tests: 16,402)
Deaths – 4,473
Recoveries – 104,694
In the 24 hours preceding 9:00 a.m., Thursday, Pakistan’s death toll climbed by 78 to 4,473. In the same period, 3,892 patients were declared COVID-free, raising recoveries to 104,694, or 48.1 percent of confirmed infections. There are currently 108,642 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, 369 more than a day earlier, with the NCOC reporting 2,723 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
The Central Contact Tracing Unit of the provincial Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department on Wednesday announced it had traced 200,000 contacts of coronavirus patients as part of its test, trace and quarantine policy to curb the spread of COVID-19.
On Thursday, authorities reported 22 new deaths due to COVID-19, raising total fatalities to 1,784. The province also reported 1,478 new infections, raising confirmed cases to 77,740, against 28,266 recoveries. There are now 47,690 active cases of the virus in Punjab province, 678 more than a day earlier.
Sindh
The provincial government on Wednesday announced it was extending the ongoing “smart lockdown” till July 15, retaining its restrictions on public gatherings and operational timings for businesses and shops.
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the province on Thursday morning rose by 2,155 to 86,795. Additionally, the province’s death toll climbed by 29 to 1,406, while its recoveries rose by 1,703 to 48,527. Overall, the province now has 36,862 active cases of the novel coronavirus, 423 more than a day earlier.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Adviser to the C.M. on Information Ajmal Wazir on Wednesday claimed the province would increase its testing capacity for COVID-19 to 10,000/day by the end of July; the province has on average been conducting around 2,000 tests/day for the past month. A report prepared by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination also claimed that there were still 86 unoccupied ventilators in public sector hospitals to cater to any potential surge in critical cases.
The provincial government on Thursday reported 22 new deaths, raising its death toll to 973. In the past 24 hours, its recoveries rose by 517 to 13,584, while its confirmed cases have increased by 340 to 26,938. There are currently 12,381 active cases of coronavirus in the province, 686 less than a day ago.
Balochistan
Provincial spokesman Liaquat Shahwani on Wednesday claimed the province had witnessed a 10 percent decline in new infections of COVID-19, crediting it to the ongoing “smart lockdown” and the public’s adoption of preventative measures such as face masks and social distancing guidelines. He said this proved that the virus could be brought under control with the public’s support.
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the province on Thursday rose by 132 to 10,608, with no new deaths and 280 new recoveries. Overall, 4,764 patients have fully recovered from the virus, leaving 5,723 active cases of COVID-19, 148 less than a day ago.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Thursday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 170 to 13,082. There was 1 new death in the past 24 hours, while 589 more people have fully recovered. Overall, 129 people have died due to COVID-19 in the federal capital against 7,850 recoveries, leaving 5,103 active cases of COVID-19.
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Gilgit-Baltistan rose by 22 on Thursday to 1,511. The region reported 2 new deaths, raising fatalities to 28, while there have been 1,146 full recoveries, leaving 337 active cases.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases have increased by 42 to 1,135. The region’s death toll increased by 2 to 32, while 557 people have now fully recovered. It has 546 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 10,809,447 people, with over 519,046 reported deaths. Governments across the world halted flights, locked down towns and cities and urged people to stay at home at the peak of the virus’s spread, but there are now signs of easements in nations that have reined it in to help shuttered economies recover. Overall, around 6,032,191 patients of the 10.8 million+ infected have recovered thus far.