COVID-19: Pakistan reports 5,870 cases, 144 deaths

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported another 5,870 cases and 144 deaths from the novel coronavirus on Friday as the government mulls imposing further restrictions due to the worsening situation.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported 5,870 new coronavirus cases in the past day as the total number of cases reached 784,108. There were another 144 deaths from the virus, taking the death toll to 16,842.

The total number of active cases 84,976 has surged to while the positivity rate stood at 10.9 percent. There are 4,652 patients who remain in critical condition in hospital across the country.

There were 53,818 coronavirus detection tests conducted in the past day, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 11.43 million since the first case was reported. Overall 682,290 people have recovered from the virus including 5,685 in past day.

Punjab remain the worst affected area with 44,638 active cases. There have been 282,469 cases and 7,779 deaths in the province so far. Islamabad has recorded 72,150 cases and 652 deaths while there are 13,013 active cases in the federal capital.

The number of coronavirus cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reached 110,875 and 3,029 deaths while there are 14,116 active cases in the province. Sindh has recorded 275,815 cases and 4,576 deaths while Balochistan has recorded 21,365 cases and 227 deaths.

Amid the worsening situation, Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on COVID-19. The meeting is expected to take strict decisions as the coronavirus situation is worsening across the country.

The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) is also scheduled to meet today before the NCC meeting under the prime minister. The meeting will consider imposing further curbs across the country in case of the failure of the authorities to implement SOPs.