Coronavirus cases in Pakistan cross grim 50,000 landmark

ISLAMABAD: The number of coronavirus infections in Pakistan has crossed the grim milestone of 50,000 cases, according to the national dashboard.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre, there are a total of 50,694 confirmed cases in the country. Around 2,603 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours as the testing capacity has been enhanced.

The death toll has reached 1,067 including 50 people who lost their lives in the past 24 hours, whereas 15,201 people have recovered from COVID-19. There are 19,924 confirmed cases in Sindh while Punjab has 18,455 cases.

Balochistan has recorded 3,074 cases, Khyber Pakthunkhwa has 7,155, Islamabad has 1,326 cases, while AJK and Gilgit Baltistan has 158 and 602 cases respectively.

The NCOC, the nerve center for the coronavirus tracking efforts, headed by Minister for Planning Asad Umar was told yesterday that the testing capacity for COVID-19 has been doubled after the launch of Test, Track, and Quarantine strategy.

The meeting was further apprised that at present around 631 smart lockdowns are in place across the country. The meeting discussed the Epi Curve Chart, Decision Support System, TTQ update, update on task tracker, and communication strategy along with standard operating procedures for Eid.

Speaking on the occasion, Asad Umar said the electoral votes data is the most authentic one to be used for Decision Support System.

Health authorities conducted the highest number of coronavirus tests in a single day and anticipate a 15-20 percent rise in daily cases over the next week across the country due to lifting of the lockdown.