Pakistan records 4,767 COVID-19 cases, 57 deaths

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded 4,767 cases from COVID-19 as the situation worsen from the novel coronavirus amid the third wave and more areas go under lockdown.  

The latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the coronavirus has claimed 57 more lives in Pakistan during the past 24 hours, surging the overall death toll to 14,215.

With the fresh infection, the total number of cases recorded in the country ever since the pandemic began has crossed the grim mark of 650,000. The total number of cases have reached 654,591 people.

The total count of active cases is 44,447 while 3043 are in critical condition. The positivity rate stands at 10.44 percent. This is the third consecutive day that the positivity ration stands in double digits.

A total of 45,656 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Since the detection of the first COVID-19 case in the country, overall 10,066,726 tests have been conducted while 595,929 cases have been recorded so far.

Amid rising cases of coronavirus, the government of Punjab has imposed more smart lockdowns in various major cities of the province. Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Sarah Aslam said smart lockdowns have been imposed in 27 more areas of Lahore, 19 of Faisalabad, four of Gujarat and two of Multan. She further said that the decision was taken after the number of cases increased in these areas.

The number of cases are surging in Punjab fueled by the UK variant of the virus. Punjab has recoded 212,918 cases and 6,229 deaths so far. There are 22,392 active cases in the province. Islamabad, the federal capital, has recorded 55,594 cases and 559 deaths. There are 8,120 active cases in the region.

National Control Operation (NCOC) chief and Federal Minister Asad Umar has warned of tough decisions if the coronavirus situation doesn’t improve.

During a media briefing after a key NCOC meeting on Saturday to review the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in Punjab, Khyber Paktunkhwa and Islamabad Capital Territory, the federal minister said that the restrictions were increased two weeks ago due to the deteriorating coronavirus situation.

He said the pandemic was spreading rapidly not only in Pakistan, but across the world especially in neighbouring countries like India and Bangladesh.

The federal minister said that the number of critical patients has rapidly increased in the last 12 days. If the trend continues, the situation may slip out of hand, the minister said.

Umar said NCOC is trying its level best not to let the situation affect the employment of people. He also warned that the UK variant of the coronavirus is much “more dangerous” than the original COVID-19 virus that emerged from Wuhan.