1,708 COVID-19 positive in Pakistan in highest single-day spike since July

ISLAMABAD: At least 25 people in Pakistan died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 1,708 tested positive, the highest single-day spike since July, Pakistan’s National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which leads coronavirus mitigation efforts across the country, said on Wednesday.
Last month, Pakistan’s de facto health minister, Dr. Faisal Sultan, announced that the second wave of coronavirus had arrived and new restrictions and lockdowns were ‘inevitable.’
The NCOC said there were 21,098 active coronavirus cases in Pakistan as of November 11, and 320,065 people had recovered so far across the country.
According to a government portal, Pakistan has recorded 348,184 total infections so far and 7,021 deaths.
In recent weeks, authorities have imposed micro-lockdowns around the country as cases have continued to surge.
Prime Minister Khan has repeatedly said the country would need to learn to “live with” the virus to avert pushing tens of millions living on daily wages into destitution.
Pakistan began to lift its lockdown, imposed in March, on May 9, about two weeks before the Eid Al-Fitr festival that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and is celebrated with congregation prayers, family gatherings and feasting. Transport and most businesses reopened but cinemas, theaters and schools remain closed.
In August, the government announced that virtually all sectors shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus would be reopened that month, other than schools and marriage halls, which opened in September. There has been a uptick in infection numbers since.