ISLAMABAD: The third wave of coronavirus continues to wreak havoc as Pakistan recorded over 5,000 new coronavirus cases in the past day.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan recorded 5,020 new coronavirus cases across the country while 81people succumbed to the deadly disease. The total number of cases recorded so far reached 687,908 cases while the death toll has reached 14,778.
The total number of active cases has increased to 60,072 the positivity rate stood at 9.02 percent. There are 3,356 patients who remain in critical condition in hospitals across the country.
There were 55,605 coronavirus detection tests conducted in the past day, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 10.403 million since the first case was reported. Overall 613,058 people have recovered from the virus including 3,367 in past day.
The situation is adverse in Punjab where the number of active case have reached 30,516. There have been 231,073 cases recorded so far and 6,572 deaths. Islamabad has recorded 60,911 cases and 579 deaths while there are 11,399 active cases in the region.
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 91,439 cases and 2,440 deaths while there are 10,709 active cases. Sindh has recorded 266,378 cases and 4,509 deaths.
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Amid the worsening situation, the Sindh government is considering shutting down schools till class eight as coronavirus cases continue to increase across the province.
Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani chaired a meeting of a steering committee of the Sindh Education Department during which two proposals regarding closure of schools were discussed.
Some members of the steering committee suggested closing schools till class eight.A proposal was given to close schools for 15 days which was opposed.
During the meeting, a representative of private schools reportedly raised an objection why schools should be closed when markets are open.
Education Minister Saeed Ghani will present both proposals to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). However, he refuted media reports regarding a change in school timings for Ramazan
