Pakistan reports highest Covid single-day tally in nine months

Country's tally for confirmed cases has reached 640,988 whereas the death toll stands at 14,028

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Thursday recorded at least 3,946 confirmed Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day tally reported in nine months as the third wave of the pandemic continued to rage across the country.

Earlier, on June 24, 2020, the highest number of positive cases reported in a single day was 3,892.

The country also recorded at least 63 fatalities from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the tally for total deaths to 14,028.

The nationwide tally of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 640,988 out of which 37,985 were categorised as active, with over 2,597 patients in critical condition.

Read NCOC restricts all commercial activities to close by 8pm amid virus upsurge

According to the data provided by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), Sindh has the highest tally of cases with 263,815 cases, followed by Punjab with 205,314 cases, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 81,787, Islamabad with 53,684 cases, Balochistan with 19,395 cases, AJK with 12,016 cases and Gilgit Baltistan with 4,977.

The data also revealed that 38,858 coronavirus tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Covid-19 tests to 99,034,373.

Recoveries

According to the NCOC, 2,747 patients recovered from the virus in one day. The total number of recovered patients in the country is 538,207.

The NCOC recorded a recovery rate of 97.68% compared to the death rate of 2.32% during the pandemic.

Read more School closure in virus hotspots extended till April 11

On March 22, the NCOC decided to increase restrictions with implementation of high-impact interventions in cities and districts having high positivity ratio till April 11, in a bid to curb the rising trend of cases during the ongoing third wave of Covid-19 in the country.

The decisions were taken in a meeting of the NCOC, the nerve centre of the government’s synchronised response to the global pandemic, with Planning Minister Asad Umar in the chair. The provincial chief secretaries also attended the meeting via video link.

The meeting expressed grave concern over the current coronavirus situation and unanimously agreed to implement the measures in cities and districts with over 8% positivity ratio to stop the virus from spreading.