Pakistan confirmed 3,447 covid-19 cases on Monday as the nation battles the third wave of the infection.
According to reports from the National Command and Operation Centre, 78 people died as a result of the outbreak on Saturday (NCOC).
According to the NCOC, 3,447 positive cases were reported after 37,756 people were screened for the virus. In a single day, the country’s positivity level stands at 9.12 percent.
The country’s cumulative number of active cases has risen to 80,375. Pakistan was treating 5,342 covid-19 patients across 639 hospitals, according to the NCOC.
The recent deaths bring the total number of people who have died as a result of the outbreak to 18,993.
The virus claimed the lives of the most people in the last 24 hours in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 27 people died, followed by Punjab, where 26 people died on Saturday.
In Balochistan, one individual has died as a result of the infection in the last 24 hours.
The All Pakistan Traders Association declared last week that all commercial operations will continue to operate until Chand Raat, the day before Eid-ul-Fitr.
According to Ajmal Baloch, President of the All Pakistan Traders Association, despite government orders, all markets and businesses can function throughout the country, including in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
“We should be allowed to operate businesses 24 hours as the Saudi government did,” said Baloch, adding if the government does not have the means to provide relief to the business community, then it should not tell trades to shut down their businesses.
As Ramadan draws closer and the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays arrive, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan cautioned Pakistanis of a “very risky period ahead.”
Microbiologists and scientists, he said, should continue to educate people about the risks of the coronavirus and urge them to adopt normal operating methods to prevent transmission.
“Covid-19 cases may rise again if precautions are not taken during this critical period when we are seeing the last days of the holy month of Ramazan and Eid is a festive season,” he said.
