Single-day Covid tally tops 1,500 mark

20 people lose lives as death toll nears 7,000

ISLAMABAD:

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday reported more than 1,500 fresh cases of coronavirus across the country in a new one-day record over the past three months.

The country recorded 1,502 new cases in the last 24 hours—the highest single-day tally since July 30 – pushing the total count of coronavirus infections to 341,753. On Friday, the country recorded 1,376 new coronavirus cases, the previous one-day spike in the past three months.

Another 20 people lost their lives due to the virus, bringing the death toll to 6,943. As many as 317,898 people have recovered thus far, while active cases stand at 16,912 as of Saturday, according to the NCOC, the nerve centre of the government’s unified effort to stem the pandemic spread.

In the first week of November alone, the country recorded over 7,500 new Covid-19 cases, forcing the government to re-impose several restrictions, which had been relaxed due to flattening case curve across the country.

Fresh restrictions, which will apply to the capital Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and several other big cities, include fine for not wearing a face mask, and ban on indoor wedding ceremonies starting on Nov 20 as well as work from home policy and broader smart lockdowns.

According to the NCOC data, Sindh and Punjab are the most affected province, where the tallies of the cases had reached 148,922 and 106,208 respectively. Similarly, the death toll from disease in the two provinces stood at 2,667 and 2,399, respectively, as of Friday.

The Sindh chief minister said on Saturday that the 12 patients died in the province on Saturday, raising the overall death toll to 2679. His office also said that 620 new cases emerged, while 9995 tests were conducted.

The Punjab government reported 9 more deaths and 352 new cases in the province. The provincial health department said that it had decided to introduce a well organised system of coronavirus testing cases, aimed at introducing a uniform “data entry system” for all public and private laboratories and hospitals.

The Punjab government is also grappling with the emergence of dengue in the province. The health department confirmed six new cases and 514 suspected cases during the last 24 hours. It said four confirmed cases were from Lahore and two from Gujranwala.

The department said that no death had been reported because of the dengue fever since the disease emerged in January this year. It added that so far, 173 cases had been confirmed so far, while 167 patients ha fully recovered.

WITH INPUT FROM AGENCIES