Covid-19 testing capacity raised to record 26,000

With 3,000 new cases Sindh sets record of highest single-day rise

ISLAMABAD: More than 26,000 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the country in the past 24 hours, the highest tests in a single day since the start of the pandemic, according to statistics provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday.

However, it was a grim day for Sindh which recorded over 3,000 coronavirus cases in a single day, overtaking the tally of Punjab to become the most affected province of the country. By Thursday evening, the nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients rose to 122,574.

There were 46,828 cases in Sindh, 45,643 in Punjab, 15,206 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 7,335 in Balochistan, 1,018 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 6,236 in Islamabad and 488 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus had claimed at least 2,394 lives, while around 38,391 coronavirus patients have recovered.



The NCOC said 26,573 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, while 5,834 new cases and 101 deaths were reported on June 10. It added that at present, there were 78,789 active cases in the country, while 5,838 patients were admitted to 779 hospitals with Covid-19 treatment facilities.

In its daily meeting, the NCOC was informed on Thursday that more than 61% ventilators allocated for Covid-19 patients were still vacant. The meeting heard that not a single patient was on the ventilator in AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.

Of the total 1,400 ventilators reserved for Covid-19, only 368 ventilators have been occupied till date. The meeting heard that 250 additional ventilators had been sent to the hospitals, while 25 portable ventilators had been dispatched to Karachi by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The forum was informed that a total of 25,730 beds and 5,433 oxygenated beds had been allocated across the country to meet the requirements of Covid-19 patients, while 1,000 additional oxygenated beds would be available by end June.

Some 2,148 beds, 262 oxygenated beds and 36 ventilators have been reserved for corona patients in Balochistan. A total of 151 beds, 43 beds with oxygen and 28 ventilators were available in Gilgit-Baltistan. In Islamabad, 524 beds, 262 oxygenated beds and 90 ventilators were reserved for Covid-19.



Some 5,110 beds, 628 oxygenated beds and 313 ventilators had been allocated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9,276 beds, 3,500 oxygenated beds and 387 ventilators In Punjab, where 207 patients were on ventilators.

Some 1,584 non-Covid ventilators were available across the country to meet any emergency. These include 602 in Karachi, 21 in Hyderabad, 139 in Rawalpindi, 113 in Multan, 366 in Lahore, 56 in Faisalabad, 71 in Peshawar, 12 in Abbottabad, 138 in Islamabad, 21 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 35 in Quetta.

With input from APP