Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The day Pakistan announced to ease lockdown restrictions, 1,950 new cases were recorded in a single day with 35 fatalities on Friday, according to an update by the national dashboard tracking the spread of the virus.
The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country soared to 26,954 after the new infections. Of these, 9,691 cases in Sindh, 10,033 in Punjab, 4,327 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,873 in Balochistan, 558 in Islamabad, 394 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 78 in Azad Kashmir. Over 7,530 patients have recovered from the virus so far.
After Punjab reported 838 new cases of coronavirus, provincial tally reached 10,033. This is also the biggest jump any province has seen in the number of coronavirus cases in a single day. The virus has claimed at least 611 lives.
The province also confirmed one death, taking Punjab’s death toll to 183. About 22 patients are in a critical condition, Punjab’s primary and secondary healthcare department said.
Spokesperson of Bahawalpur police shared that 18 cops have tested positive for the virus in the district. The spokesperson stated that patients include members of the elite force, traffic police and officials of various police stations. He added that the affected officials have been shifted to the hospitals in the district’s civil hospital.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s MPA Bahadur Khan has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, he said in a video. The ANP MPA added that his son and gunman had also tested positive for the virus. He said that he had quarantined himself at his house.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department has confirmed that 12 more people have fallen prey to coronavirus in the province to bring the death toll to 221. It said that 371 new cases have been reported in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 4,327. Of 12 fresh casualties, five were reported from Peshawar, five from Swat and one each from Swabi and Dir Lower. Forty more patients have recuperated from the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,033. Active cases stand at 3,073 in the province.
Meanwhile, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman has said that the party has made it mandatory for all its senators and members of the National Assembly to get tested for the coronavirus before leaving for the Parliament’s session on Monday.
