Covid tally surpasses 300,000 mark

UK newspaper top-ranks PM Imran among leaders who worked hard to overcome effects of virus on their citizens

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan surpassed another grim milestone in its battle against the global pandemic of novel coronavirus, as the countrywide tally of Covid-19 cases surpassed 300,000 mark, though the diseases appeared to be on the decline following the strong preventive measures adopted by the government.

For past many weeks, the daily increase in the new cases had been brought well under 500, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) – the nerve centre of the government’s unified efforts against the deadly contagion.

Similarly, the number of the patients recovering from the disease is also growing steadily, pulling down the total number of active cases in the country to around 5,500. Also, the number of daily deaths had been reduced to a single digit.

On Thursday morning, the NCOC said in its daily update that 441 more people were tested positive for the virus during the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 299,855 cases. However, the number rose to 300,238 before midnight.

The NCOC said that six patients died on Wednesday in Sindh, raising the nationwide death toll to 6,365 since the first case of coronavirus emerged in the country in February. There were no Covid-19 deaths in the rest of the country on Wednesday, according to the NCOC update.

The number of active Covid cases had been on the decline. As of Thursday morning, according to the NCOC, the number of active cases was 5,540. It said that around 287,950 people had recovered so far across Pakistan, making it a significant count with over 90% recovery ratio.

Hoping to mitigate Covid-19’s toll, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan lifted a countrywide lockdown in May, leading to a spike in cases. However, the government adopted an effective strategy of tracing, testing and quarantine and smart lockdowns and other measures to contain the pandemic.