ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded nearly 5,000 new coronavirus cases across the country as the third wave of the pandemic takes its toll and the government announced even further restrictions.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan recorded a staggering 4,974 cases and 98 deaths from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
The total number of cases recorded so far has reached 672,931 cases while the death toll stands at 14,530 cases. There are 3,303 patients who remain in critical condition in hospitals across the country.
The total number of active cases was recorded at 53,127 and the positivity rate stood at 9.93 per cent. Yesterday, Pakistan surpassed the grim milestone of 50,000 active cases for the first time since the pandemic began.
There were 50,055 coronavirus detection tests conducted in the past day, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 10,247,374 since the first case was reported.
According to the statistics, 106 patients were declared critical, adding to the total number of patients suffering from sensitive health condition up to 3,303.
Overall 605,274 people have recovered from the virus including 2,148 who have regained their health from COVID-19 during the past 24 hours.
Punjab has recorded 223,181 cases and 6,427 deaths so far. There are still 26,898 active cases in province which is more than half of the total active cases in the country.
Islamabad has recorded 58,557 cases and 572 deaths while there are 10,401 active cases in the region. The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 88,099 cases and 2,363 deaths recorded so far.
Sindh has recorded 265,680 cases and 4,502 deaths. The province has announced further restrictions in the province and recommended a ban on inter-city transport.
According to a Sindh Home Department notification, all kind of gatherings, both indoor as well as outdoor, including social, cultural, political, sports, musical, religious or other events have been completely banned.
All indoor dining in restaurants has also been banned while outdoor dining is allowed till 10PM, while all commercial and business activities will be allowed from 6AM to 8PM except essential services.
The notification said that outdoor weddings would be allowed till April 5 with strict adherence to Covid-19 standard operation procedures (SOPs) and a ban will be in effect on all marriage functions (indoor and outdoor) from April 6.
The government has also made it mandatory to wear face masks and adhere to social distancing at all public and private offices as well as public places. The restriction will be in effect till April 11.
