ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported another 5,857 cases and 98 deaths from the novel coronavirus on Thursday as the government warned of more restrictions if safety precautions are not followed.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported 5,857 new coronavirus cases in the past day as the total number of cases reached 778,238. There were another 98 deaths from the virus, taking the death toll to 16,698.
The total number of active cases has surged to 84,935 while the positivity rate stood at 10.16 percent. There are 4,593 patients who remain in critical condition in hospital across the country.
There were 57,591 coronavirus detection tests conducted in the past day, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 11.37 million since the first case was reported. Overall 676,605 people have recovered from the virus including 3,986 in past day.
Punjab remain the worst affected area with 45,938 active cases. There have been 279,437 cases and 7,718 deaths in the province so far. Islamabad has recorded 71,533 cases and 649 deaths while there are 12,905 active cases in the federal capital.
The number of coronavirus cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reached 109,705 and 2,990 deaths while there are 14,027 active cases in the province. Sindh has recorded 275,437 cases and 4,562 deaths while Balochistan has recorded 21,242 cases and 226 deaths.
Amid the worsening situation, Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar warned of more restrictions due to the deteriorating coronavirus situation in the country.
Addressing media after chairing an important session at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), he said there was a lack of implementation of COVID-19 standard operating procedures during the third coronavirus.
The NCOC noted that if the situation remains the same, then they would have no choice but to shut down major cities. Umar said the administration has failed to implement the SOPs and the results are evident. He also asked the chief ministers to take action against SOP violations and urged them to help control the pandemic.
