Worrying stats: Over 15,000 children contract coronavirus in April

More than 923,000 children of one to 20 years of age have been infected since March 2020, says health ministry

Over 15,000 children aged between one and 20 years have been infected by coronavirus across Pakistan in April alone, the health ministry said on Saturday, as the country battles with a staggering third wave of the pandemic.

Of them, the ministry said, 19 children have lost their lives due to the virus, six of them between one and 10 years of age.

It said that out of over 15,000 cases reported among children in April, nearly 3,000 are between one and 10 years, while the remaining are between 11 and 20 years of age.

A total of over 93,000 children from the same age groups have so far been infected across the country since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, according to the health ministry.

Read more: Pakistan to reduce inbound international flights by 80%

Meanwhile, the government has banned all the processions on the occasion of Yaum-e-Ali (AS) (21st Ramazan) while holding of Majalis has been permitted under strict Covid standard operating procedures (SOPs) which are already in place for Ramazanul Mubarik.

Pakistan recorded another 4,696 new infections on Saturday, taking the total caseload to 825,519. The death toll rose by 146 to 17,957.

Some 717,009 people have so far recovered, while the total number of active cases in the country is 90,553.

The country of over 210 million population has so far inoculated slightly over 2 million people.