Pakistan records 3,369 more coronavirus cases, 72 deaths

ISLAMABAD: As many as 3,369 new cases of the coronavirus were reported across the country during the past 24 hours, pushing the national tally of infections to 438,425.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 72 more people succumbed to the infection during this period, taking the death toll from the disease to 8,796.
The NCOC said that a total of 42,222 samples were tested in the previous 24 hours, out of which 3,369 turned out to be positive. The number of active cases stands at 46,629 while 383,000 patients have recuperated from the disease so far.
Since the pandemic began, Sindh has reported as many as 194,359 infections, Punjab 127,212, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 52,092, Balochistan 17,737, Islamabad 34,579, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 7,663 and Gilgit Baltistan 4,783.
A total of 3,149 people died of the virus in Sindh, 3,351 in Punjab, 1,463 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 368 in Islamabad, 175 in Balochistan, 99 in Gilgit Baltistan and 191 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The highest positivity rate of COVID-19 cases was recorded in Karachi at 18.92 percent, while the countrywide positivity ratio stands at 7.98 percent. The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients has risen to 2,471.
Sindh recorded the highest COVID-19 positivity ratio at 12.13 percent, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 11.68 percent, Balochistan 9.30 percent, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 8.78 percent, Islamabad 4.68 percent, Punjab 4.39 percent and Gilgit Baltistan 1.98 percent.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly Sobia Shahid led the rally of the party to Lahore just before testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
According to details, the PML-N MPA Sobia Shahid endangered the lives of others accompanying her after she led a rally to the PDM’s Lahore public gathering, a day after undergoing the COVID-19 test.
On Sunday, as she was part of the rally, the KP lawmaker received the report of her COVID-19 test, which turned out to be positive. She returned to Peshawar from Pindi Bhattian, a city in Punjab province, without participating at the Minar-e-Pakistan gathering, however, others who accompanied her reached the venue, raising fears of large-scale virus transmission.
Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday said that the province has reported 1,343 cases of COVID-19 during the past 24 hours. Divulging details of the virus tally, the chief minister said that 10,270 samples were tested for COVID-19 during the past 24 hours out of which 1,343 tested positive. “Nine more patients have died from COVID-19 in a single day,” he said. Murad Ali Shah said that 851 patients have recovered from the infection during the day.
“The numbers of active coronavirus cases stand at 25,201 in the province of which 24,225 are self-isolating at home, 960 are treated at hospitals and 16 are getting treatment at isolation centres,” he said adding that 764 patients are said to be in critical condition including 88 people on ventilators.
The chief minister said that Karachi once again topped in COVID-19 cases as 1,133 people tested positive from the city during the past 24 hours against the total of 1,343 cases of the infection in the province in a day. – TLTP