Pakistan now 20th most affected country from coronavirus

KARACHI: Pakistan has been ranked by the John Hopkins University as the 20th most-affected country by the novel coronavirus as the nationwide tally of COVID-19 patients crossed 30,000.

According to the coronavirus tracker, Pakistan in terms of deaths occupies the 27th spot. So far, Pakistan has recorded 648 casualties from coronavirus.

Earlier today (Sunday), the national dashboard in its daily update stated that 1,991 cases were detected in the country in the past 24 hours.

As per details, Sindh leads the tally with 11,480 cases, followed by Punjab with 11,093, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (4,509 cases), Balochistan (1,935 cases). So far, Gilgit Baltistan has reported 430 coronavirus infections, Islamabad (641), and AJK reported 86 cases.  

As the number of cases and casualties rises, the government is looking to ease restrictions in lockdown in order to minimize the economic impact.

Earlier today, the Sindh government allowed all the markets in the province to resume business activities from tomorrow (Monday).

In a video message, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced that all markets across the province will be opened except shopping malls. “The shops will be opened from 6:00 am in the morning till 5:00 pm under the SOPs,” he added.