Coronavirus cases in Pakistan cross over 56,200

ISLAMABAD: The nationwide tally of coronavirus has risen to 56,263 with 1748 cases reported during the last twenty-four hours.

There have been 20,077 cases so far been detected in Punjab, 22491 in Sindh, 7905 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3407 in Balochistan, 1641 in Islamabad, 619 in Gilgit Baltistan and 209 in Azad Kashmir.

Meanwhile, 17,482 patients have so far recovered from the virus while the death toll stands at 1,167 with thirty-four deaths reported during the last twenty-four hours.

The number of coronavirus infection cases across the world has risen to over 5.4 million while the pandemic has so far claimed over 344,514 lives.

The United States has the highest death toll with 98,706 followed by Britain with 36,675, and Italy with 32,735. Over 2.27 million people so far have recovered from the infection.

Yesterday, National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt. Gen. Muhammad Afzal said Pakistan is fully capable of manufacturing ventilators, sanitizers, masks, personal protective equipment to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talking to a private news channel, he commended the services of medical staffers including laboratory technicians and pathological experts working in the provincial and federal hospitals. He appreciated the laboratories and hospitals for increasing the testing capacity of the coronavirus patients.

To a question about availability of required equipment for coronavirus, he said the NDMA has sufficient stock including kits for testing coronavirus patients. He said if the provincial governments needed anything, they should send the request to the NDMA to meet their demands.

Regarding the timeframe for ending the coronavirus pandemic in the country, he said advanced nations having rich financial and medical resources are still fighting the viral infection.