AMRAIZ KHAN/ ZUBAIR YAQOOB/TARIQ SAEED
LAHORE/PESHAWA R/KA RA CHI The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients has reached 6,929 with 3,276 cases in Punjab, 2,008 in Sindh, 912 in KhyberPakhtunkhwa, 305 in Balochistan, 237 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 145 in Islamabad, and 46 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus has claimed 131 lives while at least 1,645 coronavirus patients have recovered. The number of cases has continued to soar despite the country being under lockdown for the third consecutive week. Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmeen Rashid on Thursday said that total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 3,276 in the province. Addressing a joint press conference along with Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat in Lahore, Yasmeen Rashid said that so far, 630 patients of COVID-19 have been recovered while 34 died. She said that 13 patients of the virus were in critical condition in different hospitals, adding that the government was proving best healthcare facilities to the patients to save their lives. The minister maintained that personal protective equipment was being provided to all the health professionals in the province. She said that the provincial government will conduct 10,000 tests for COVID-19 at community and UC levels from the next week. Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister on Law Murtaza Wahab said Thursday that 340 new cases of coronavirus surfaced in the province during the past 24 hours. In a Tweet, Murtaza Wahab said that four more deaths have also been reported during the past 24 hours while another 16 people have recovered from the illness. With 340 new infections, the overall coronavirus cases in Sindh has reached 2,008. The death toll from the novel coronavirus stands at 45. He said that Sindh has conducted overall 18,900 tests to date. The total number of recovered patients in the province reached 576, he added. With the tally of COVID-19 confirmed cases in KP crossing 912 figure with 42 people succumbing to the deadly virus, not a single case was reported from six districts of the province where as 11 districts have reported 10 or less confirmed cases till date. However, provincial metropolis Peshawar continued to be hard his where 38 more people were tested positive during the last 24 hours. Addressing a joint press conference along with Advisor information and public relations Ajmal Khan Wazir here Thursday Health and finance Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Taimur Saleem Jhagra has said that provincial Government was planning and implementing a comprehensive and robust response to COVID-19. “There is not a single confirm corona case in 6 districts of KP which includes lower and upper Chitral, lower and upper Kohistan, Kolai Palas and Battagram while 11 other districts have 10 or less than 10 confirm patients so far. Peshawar and Mardan districts are the most hit areas by pandemic”. Jhagra told media persons adding 8 new cases in last 24 hours while only 2 confirm cases reported from Mardan in last 7 days. Taimur Jhagra said Government has made five key interventions to combat COVID-19 in the province, these include launching a locum tenens system, establishing rapid response teams, procuring essential medical/quarantine facilities and supplies, enhancing testing capacity and facilitating Ehsaas beneficiaries. Provincial Minister said government was increasing workforce in health sector. Jhagra said KP Government has established 200 medical isolation facilities in hospitals with a capacity of 4093 beds for COVID-19 patients, In addition to this 296 quarantine centers are currently operational across the province. He further said the Government has placed orders of essential medical equipment and supplies worth PKR 3.8 Billion.
