ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported another 4,113 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, while the death toll increased by 119 as the government gears up for a lockdown ahead of the upcoming Eid holidays.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported another 4,113 cases and 119 deaths in the previous 24-hour period day. The national tally of coronavirus cases has reached 841,636 while the death toll stands at 18,429.
The number of active cases has reached 84,480 while there are 5,211 people remain in critical condition. There were 44,838 tests conducted in the past day, while the positivity ratio was 9.17%. Overall 738,727 people have recovered from the virus, including 5,665 in the past day.
Punjab continues to remain the most affected region and has recorded 310,616 cases and 8,741 deaths, while the number of active cases in the province stands at 41,634. Islamabad has recorded 76,696 cases and 698 deaths while there are 11,577 active cases in the federal capital.
The number of coronavirus cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands at 121,099 and 3,466 deaths while there are 11,076 active cases in the province. Sindh has recorded 287,643 cases and 4,687 deaths while Balochistan has recorded 22,776 cases and 239 deaths.
Fearing a spike in cases during the upcoming Eid holidays, the NCOC decided to form monitoring teams at federal, provincial, and district levels to ensure the implementation of coronavirus SOPs from May 8-16.
During this period, all businesses and shops will remain closed with few exceptions like food outlets, grocery stores, pharmacies, petrol pumps and bakeries. There would be a complete ban on tourism for both locals and outsiders.
All tourist resorts, formal and informal picnic spots, public parks, shopping malls; all hotels and restaurants around tourist and picnic spots shall remain closed,
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar noted a significant improvement in the implementation of coronavirus SOP compliance since the stronger enforcement measures including military deployment took place across the country.
The minister pointed out that national average compliance has doubled from 34% on April 25 to 68% on May 3. He stressed the need to sustain and build on this compliance level especially till Eid.
