File photo
Confirmed infections rise to 323,452 against 307,409 recoveries and 6,659 deaths, leaving 9,384 active cases
Pakistan on Monday recorded 440 infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 27,091 tests—a positivity ratio of 1.62 percent.
Former chief economist of the World Bank, Lawrence Summers, praised Pakistan’s coronavirus policy over the weekend in an appearance on CNN and in a subsequent posting on Twitter. Summers, also a former secretary of the treasury for President Bill Clinton and director of the National Economic Council for President Barack Obama, said the U.S. should have emulated Pakistan. “Told Fareed Zakaria on GPS CNN, America’s failure on COVID-19 is almost unimaginable. Heck, if the U.S. had handled the pandemic as well as Pakistan, we would have saved in neighborhood of $10 trillion,” he said.
Pakistan is currently in the midst of what health authorities have warned could be a second wave of the virus. 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 72,232 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 – 323,452 (Tests: 4,101,115)
Punjab – 101,652
Sindh – 141,841
Balochistan – 15,688
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 38,645
Islamabad – 18,069
Gilgit-Baltistan – 4,059
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 3,498
Deaths – 6,659
Recoveries – 307,409
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Monday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 323,452. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 5 to 6,659. At the same time, recoveries increased by 340 to 307,409, or 95 percent of total infections. There are currently 9,384 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC reporting 526 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Monday, authorities reported no new deaths due to COVID-19, sustaining fatalities at 2,298. The province raised its confirmed cases to 101,652 with 93 new infections. Meanwhile, its recoveries have increased by 19 to 97,238. There are now 2,116 active cases of the virus in the province.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh on Monday rose by 135 to 141,841. The province reported 2 deaths, raising toll to 2,581, while its recoveries rose by 151 to 134,825. Overall, the province now has 4,435 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Monday reported no new deaths, sustaining toll at 1,265. In the past 24 hours, its recoveries rose by 65 to 36,964 while its confirmed cases have increased by 47 to 38,645. The province currently has 416 active cases of coronavirus.
Balochistan
The province has raised its confirmed cases to 15,688 with 19 new infections. There was 1 new death and 21 recoveries in the past 24 hours, raising fatalities to 148 and recoveries to 15,330. There are now 210 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Monday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 73 to 18,069. There was 1 new death and 72 recoveries in the past 24 hours, raising casualties to 195 and recoveries to 16,744, leaving 1,130 active cases.
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Gilgit-Baltistan on Monday increased by 12 to 4,059. The region reported no new deaths, sustaining toll at 90, and raised recoveries by 12 to 3,714. There are currently 255 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases have increased by 61 to 3,498. There were no new recoveries and 1 death in the past 24 hours, leaving 82 fatalities and 2,594 fully recovered. It now has 822 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 40,281,080 people, with over 1,118,326 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. Overall, around 30,116,228 patients of the 40.3 million+ infected have recovered thus far, with health experts warning of an impending second wave as winter approaches.