Daily COVID-19 cases drop below 2,000 in Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistan on Saturday reported 1,918 new cases bringing the tally to 261,917, according to the Health Ministry.

According to the National Command and Control Center (NCOC), the country also recorded 47 more fatalities raising the death toll to 5,522. As many as 198,509 patients have recovered from the disease, while the country is still witnessing a consistent rise in the COVID-19 cases.

The total number of infections in Punjab stands at 89,465, Sindh 111,238, 31,669 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,405 in Balochistan, 14,504 in Islamabad, 1,840 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 1,796 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Out of a total of 5,522 deaths, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 1,130 deaths, Sindh 1,958, Balochistan 131, Gilgit-Baltistan 39, Punjab 2,067, Azad Kashmir 49, and Islamabad Capital Territory has reported 156 deaths.

Read more: Global coronavirus cases rise by one million in five days: WHO

The recoveries in Punjab stand at 65,009, Sindh 88,103, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 22,873, Islamabad 11,708, Balochistan 8,313, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,409, and Azad Jammu Kashmir 1,094.

However, the country is still witnessing a consistent rise in COVID-19 cases.  Meanwhile, the government claims there has been a decline in new cases of the virus, amid local media reports saying this decrease is due to a reduction in testing.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the reduction in cases has been due to its targeted lockdown policy and observation of social distancing rules.

“Pak [Pakistan] is amongst the fortunate countries where COVID 19 cases in hospitals, esprcially in intensive care & death rate have gone down, unlike in our unfortunate neighbor India,” Khan tweeted. He urged the public to follow social distancing rules during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid ul Adha.