SP and 25 more die: 1,302 new cases surface

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) claimed the lives of another 26 people in the country during the last twenty-four hours – the highest number of single-day deaths since July-end, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday.
The total number of deaths due to the COVID-19 in the country has reached 6,893. According to the NCOC, Pakistan recorded 1,302 new infections during the last 24 hours, whereas the number of active cases of coronavirus went up to 15,317. So far 316,665 patients have recovered from the virus.
A total of 32,376 tests were carried out for the detection of COVID-19 during the last 24 hours as the country has so far conducted 4,573,768 tests. However, the Covid-19 positivity rate has declined to 4.02 percent from 4.9 percent during the last twenty-four hours.
In Punjab, the novel coronavirus claimed five more lives and infected 338 people during the past 24 hours. A spokesperson of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department said on Thursday that five more people succumbed to the deadly virus in 24 hours, taking the death toll to 2,385 in the province.
He maintained that 338 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in the province, adding that of the total fresh cases, 179 surfaced in Lahore.
Meanwhile, a Superintendent of Police (SP), Raja Arshad, who was associated with the Sindh police’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU), died on Thursday, a week after being hospitalised with the coronavirus. Sources in the SUI confirmed the senior cop passed away at a private hospital in the metropolis.
They said he was hospitalised a week ago with coronavirus-related complications. Arshad and another SIU SP Muzaffar Iqbal were diagnosed with the infection. Iqbal has quarantined himself at home.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, 2,647 people have died of the disease in Sindh alone that also remains the province with the highest number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus. A total of 147,787 infections have surfaced across the province thus far.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has said that the provincial government is persistently monitoring the 2nd wave of coronavirus spike in the province.
Presiding over a meeting of the Corona Task Force in Peshawar, he said all resources will be spent to contain the possible spread of coronavirus. He directed district administration to implement smart lockdown in all those areas where corona cases are being reported.
The meeting also decided to close public parks at 06 pm while restaurants, markets and wedding halls will be closed at 10 pm besides wearing masks is compulsory in all public places. – TLTP