Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Thirty-two more corona patients succumbed to the desease on Saturday bringing the death tally to 440 and confirmed Covid-19 cases reached to 18,806 as 1,297 cases were reported in 24 hours – the highest number since the outbreak.
The province-wise confirmed cases are 6,854 in Punjab, 7,102 in Sindh, 2,907 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,172 in Balochistan, 340 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 365 in Islamabad and 66 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the federal government’s database, 364 more people have recovered from coronavirus in Pakistan. This takes the country’s number of recoveries to 4,753.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center, Punjab remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Twenty-two more cases of Covid-19 have been detected in Islamabad. This takes the capital’s coronavirus case count to 365. According to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Sindh reported four new death to take the provincial tally to 122.
Another 11 people succumbed to novel coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last 24 hours to bring the provincial death toll to 172 – the highest in the country. The K-P Health Department also said that 108 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported, taking the tally to 2,907 and 38 more patients recuperated from the mysterious disease to raise total number of recoveries to 728 in the province.
Meanwhile, a Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa policeman, 36-year-old Faheem died on Saturday while undergoing treatment for Covid-19.
He was working in a bomb disposal squad of Nowshera police and had recently received an award for outstanding performance, said a KP police official.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has said that recommendations have been prepared for reopening industries and markets. “Recommendations have also been prepared to be presented to the federal govt for reopening of markets. Our suggestion is to divide them into zones and open at different times,” Buzdar said.
He further said that industries that have their own housing colonies attached should also be opened.
Meanwhile, former MPA Haji Allah Yar Ansari has died due to Covid-19. He was 78. Mr Ansari remained quarantined at home, but was later shifted to hospital when his condition deteriorated. He was elected as PML-N MPA in 1997.
Health authorities will take samples of his family and close contacts for testing.
During the talk with media, Punjab Minister for Health Yasmin Rashid said that the field hospital established at Lahore Expo Center will be improved in the coming days.
Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department has reported 514 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the provincial tally to 6,854.
The province has also reported nine more deaths taking the total number of fatalities to 115. According to the department, 2206 people have recovered from the virus while 22 are in critical condition.
A total of 88,899 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the province so far.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has noted that out of the 427 coronavirus cases detected in Sindh during the past 24 hours, 376 were reported from Karachi, which he said showed that “the number of new cases is not dropping in the city”.
He said that 131 of the new cases were diagnosed in South district, 65 in East, 54 Korangi, 47 in West, 46 in Central and 33 in Malir.
Shah said that 3,529 tests were conducted over the last 24 hour period and 46 people recovered during the same time period. Murad Ali Shah said the provincial government has decided to conduct seroprevalence studies in two union councils of Karachi to assess the impact of Covid-19.
Seroprevalence is the overall occurrence of a disease or condition within a defined population at one time, as measured by blood tests. It is often presented as a percentage of the total specimens tested or as a proportion per 100,000 persons tested.
The pilot study will be carried out in the UCs of Kharadar and Kehkashan in the South district.
