Punjab again reports most deaths in last 24 hours

Pakistan recorded at least 44 more fatalities a day ago, out of which 30 occurred in Punjab

ISLAMABAD:

As per the statistics issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) informed on Sunday, Punjab again recorded the highest number of Covid-19 deaths over the last 24 hours, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Pakistan recorded at least 44 more fatalities on Saturday, out of which 30 occurred in Punjab, whereas K-P recorded six deaths. The country's death toll has now reached 13,843.

The country's nerve centre for Covid-19 response added that the total number of active cases in the country currently stood at 31,107, with at least 3,667 cases recorded in the last 24 hours.

According to the NCOC, about 41,960 tests were conducted across the country on March 20, of which 3,667 came out positive, taking the country’s tally for cases so far reported to 626,802.

Read Punjab contributing 55% to Covid-19 mortality rate: NCOC

Deaths

Out of the total number of deaths, 5,974 deaths have occurred in Punjab, 4,479 in Sindh, 2,208 in K-P, 543 in Islamabad, 203 in Balochistan, 333 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and 103 in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

The NCOC stated that of the 44 fatalities reported on March 20, one was reported in Sindh, 30 in Punjab, six in K-P, four in Islamabad and three in AJK.

Recoveries

According to the NCOC, the total number of patients to have recovered across the country stood at 581,852.

Pakistan has so far conducted about 9,773,993 Covid-19 tests. There are about 631 hospitals with Covid-19 facilities and around 2,900 patients admitted across the country.

Third wave

On March 12, Federal minister and NCOC chief Asad Umar confirmed that the third wave of Covid-19 had started in Pakistan, attributing the rising number of cases to the virus' UK strain.

"Yes, there is no doubt that the third wave has started and basically, the phenomena that's driving it is the spread of the UK strain," Umar said while talking to a private news channel

When asked whether a third wave of the virus has started with the surge in the cases, Umar said that the uptick in cases was witnessed in districts where a large portion of the Pakistan British community lives.