LAHORE Pakistan on Monday reported 24 deaths from novel coronavirus while the total number of confirmed cases have surged to 1731 as 535 patients have been tested positive for the epidemic in Sindh, 152 in Balochistan, 638 in Punjab, 221 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 128 in GilgitBaltistan, 51 in Islamabad and six in Azad Kashmir. So far 53 patients have recovered in the country. According to latest situation nine persons have died in Punjab, seven in Sindh, five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Balochistan till Monday. Thirty-two patients have recovered fully. Meanwhile, the Sindh Health Department confirmed on Monday that as many as 27 patients – 23 from Sukkur’s quarantine facility and four from Karachi’s Dow University Hospital – were discharged after they tested negative twice for COVID-19. Now, the total number of recoveries has reached to 41 in the province. According to the provincial authorities, the patients in Sukkur have been given permission to go homes after being tested negative twice for the contagious disease. Earlier, the health department had also confirmed the recovery of four patients in Karachi’s DUHS Ojha campus from the respiratory ailment. Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Murtaza Wahab also shared the information through his Twitter handle in which he mentioned that four patients aged 53, 70, 50 and 7 with travel history of Dubai and Syria were tested negative twice and have been discharged from DOW Ojha this morning. Wahab termed the recoveries as a result of self-isolation and emphasised on the importance of social distancing and self-isolation. Currently, the authorities in Sindh conducted 5,945 tests, with Karachi has 249 Covid19 cases, Hyderabad 12 and Dadu and Jacobabad one each. Meanwhile, 265 pilgrims have so far tested positive at Sukkur quarantine facility and seven in Larkana. Five people have lost their lives due to the global pandemic in the province. A total of 5,663 cases have been registered in Punjab over the violation of Section 144 — which was imposed on March 15 as part of the coronavirus lockdown — and against hoarders and profiteers, police said Monday. According to a police spokesperson, 153 cases have been filed over the violation of the Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act. Further action was being taken against those artificially increasing the prices of and hoarding essential food and daily use items. In addition, police took action against 57 shops and four restaurants for violating Section 144, the spokesperson said, adding that 26,401 people had been checked so far at the 1,282 check-posts set up earlier. Inspector-General of Police for Punjab Shoaib Dastagir in this regard instructed the regional and district police officers to speed up action against those violating the law and ensure that officers and personnel assigned on field duty adhered to preventive measures against the coronavirus pandemic
