ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported the highest deaths ever in a single day on Wednesday from the novel coronavirus ever since the pandemic began last year and the situation worsened amid the ongoing third wave.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, Pakistan reported another 201 deaths in a single day. The previous record was on Saturday when Pakistan recorded 157 fatalities registered over the previous 24-hour period. The previous high, 153 deaths, was recorded on June 20 last year.
With the record number of deaths, the toll has reached 17,530 since the pandemic began. There were also 5,292 cases reported from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 810,231.
There were 49,101 samples were tested in the past day, while the positivity ratio remains at 10.77 percent. The total number of active cases in the country has reached 88,207. Over 704,494 people have recovered from the virus, including 4,678 in the past day.
Punjab has reported 296,144 cases and 8,224 deaths, while the number of active cases in the province stands at 47,106. Islamabad has recorded 74,131 cases and 675 deaths while there are 12,635 active cases in the federal capital.
The number of coronavirus cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reached 115,596 and 3,201 deaths while there are 12,344 active cases in the province. Sindh has recorded 280,356 cases and 4,624 deaths while Balochistan has recorded 21,945 cases and 233 deaths.
The Punjab government has announced a complete ban on commercial activities from 6pm to sehri in light of rising coronavirus cases. However, essential services including petrol pumps, medical stores, vaccination centres will remain open.
Inter-city public transport will operate at 50% occupancy, while train services have been permitted to run at 70% occupancy. Moreover, sports and cultural activities will also be banned across the province. The restrictions will remain in effect till May 17.
