Pakistan records over 6,000 more COVID-19 cases

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Pakistan on Friday recorded more than 6,000 coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, the highest single-day rise since the outbreak, according to official statistics on Friday.

With 6,397 new cases, Pakistan's tally of coronavirus cases has reached 125,933, already surpassing China and Saudi Arabia, putting the country at number 15 worldwide in terms of cases, the data shows.

Another 107 patients lost their lives due to COVID-19 across the country, bringing the death toll from the deadly virus to 2,463, while 40,247 patients have successfully recovered and discharged from the hospitals, according to the Health Ministry.

Some 809,169 people have so far been tested in the country of over 200 million people, with almost 28,344 tests conducted over the past 24 hours.

The northeastern Punjab, which accounts for more than half of the country’s population, is the worst-hit area in Pakistan with more than 47,382 cases, followed by the southern Sindh province with 46,828 cases.

The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded a total of 15,787 cases, and the southwestern Balochistan province registered 7,673 cases, according to the ministry data.

The northern Gilgit Baltistan region accounts for 1,030 of the country’s total cases, while the capital Islamabad has 6,699, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir has 534 cases so far.

The report showed that death ratio in confirmed cases is also raised to 2% which was earlier 1.7%, while recoveries also increased to 32% from 20.%.

The data show that most deaths occurred in patients between the age of 60 and 69 years, which recorded 29.83%, among them 22.93% were male and 6.9% female.

Spike

Health experts see the ever-rising caseload as a result of the lifting of a prolonged lockdown late last month, warning that the country's already weak health care system could crash soon if the tally continues to surge at the current pace.

On May 9, the country total confirmed cases were 29,465, when Prime Minister Imran Khan announced to ease lockdown in phases, while now its raised to 125,933 just in one month.

The World Health Organization has declared Pakistan the second-riskiest country after Afghanistan in terms of vulnerability to the pandemic.

In a letter to the government on Tuesday, the UN health agency suggested a two-week strict lockdown to contain the surging outbreak.

Responding to the suggestion, Zafar Mirza, prime minister’s advisor on health, said his country took the decisions in the best interest of the people.

Even the prime minister has ruled out a strict lockdown, saying a "smart lockdown" is the only solution for developing economies.