ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has witnessed a decline in coronavirus-related deaths and cases on Monday as the national tally from the virus crossed the grim landmark of 800,000.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, Pakistan reported another 70 deaths and 4,862 cases from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours as the government deployed the army to assist in adhering to COVID-19 SOPs amid the surging cases.
The total number of infections since the pandemic began has reached 800,452. The death toll from the virus has reached 17,187. There were 50,161 samples were tested in the past day, while the country’s overall positivity ratio reduced to 9.61%.
The total number of active cases in the country has reached 89,219. Over 694,046 people have recovered from the virus, including 4,234 in the past day.
Punjab has reported 290,788 cases and 7,990 deaths, while the number of active cases in the province stands at 47,129. Islamabad has recorded 73,450 cases and 665 deaths while there are 12,791 active cases in the federal capital.
The number of coronavirus cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reached 114,077 and 3,134 deaths while there are 14,007 active cases in the province. Sindh has recorded 278,545 cases and 4,599 deaths while Balochistan has recorded 21,743 cases and 232 deaths.
The Ministry of Interior on Sunday issued notifications allowing the provinces and federal territories to seek the help of the army to enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) for curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said that Pakistan Army had been given responsibility at a critical time to assist the civil administration to get implemented the safety precautions to prevent spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
To this effect, notifications have been issued under which Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir can sought services of military troops.
He said Sindh has so far not been included in the scheme. The provincial government has written to the ministry seeking the deployment of the military to get SOPs implemented to contain spread of the contagion.
