Pakistan reports 3rd straight day of over 100 COVID deaths

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported 118 more deaths caused by Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, surging the total number of fatalities in the country to 15,872, said the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday.
More than 100 deaths have been reported for the third consecutive day. According to the NCOC, 5,395 new cases of Covid-19 were reported after 64,685 tests countrywide in the same period, increasing the tally of cases to 739,818. The country’s Covid-19 positivity rate remains a little above 8.34 percent.
There are 77,294 active cases in the country, according to the NCOC data. The NCOC data further reveals that 4,740 people have recovered from coronavirus during the past 24 hours.
The number of deaths in Punjab – 68 – is higher than the rest of the provinces/regions during the last 24 hours, while 29 died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 6 in Islamabad, 3 in Sindh and 2 in Balochistan.
Punjab has reported 68 more Covid-19 deaths and 2,870 cases in the last 24 hours, according to Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department. The tally of total deaths by Covid-19 in the province has reached 7,209.
With the addition of 2,870 new cases, the provincial tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases has surged to 258,441, the health department said.
Lahore reported 1,726 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to the health department. In Rawalpindi 145 new cases of the virus were reported in a day.
Sindh has reported 653 new cases of the novel coronavirus and eight deaths in the last 24 hours. Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement on the Covid-19 situation in Sindh said that overall 12,982 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours and 653 new cases of Covid-19 diagnosed.
With fresh cases, the total number of provincial Covid infections reached 2,70,470, while total deaths reported since the first outbreak in the province stand at 4,541.
The Sindh government has decided to extend closure of shrines for the general public across the province amid the third wave of Covid-19 cases in the country. The decision has been taken to curtail the spread of coronavirus as infections registered a steady rise.
The Provincial Auqaf Department has notified extension in shutdown of shrines in the province up to May 16. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Minister for Auqaf Sohail Anwar Sial. – TLTP