ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded more than 3,400 new coronavirus cases for a second day in a row as the national COVID-19 positivity ratio soared to 8 percent and 40 more people lost their lives to the disease, official data showed on Friday.
The country has reported 619,259 confirmed cases of the viral disease since February last year when the outbreak began in Pakistan.
According to the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), the country's primary body to deal with the pandemic, 578,314 people have recovered from the disease, though 13,757 have lost their lives and there are still 2,064 critical cases in the country.
"During the last 24 hours, most coronavirus-related deaths occurred in Punjab followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province," the NCOC said in a statement. "Out of 40 deaths during the last 24 hours, 17 people died on ventilators while 3,449 people tested covid positive on March 18."
With a sudden surge in infections, the government has re-imposed several restrictions that it had lifted last month.
The country's planning minister, Asad Umar, declared earlier this month that Pakistan was hit by a "third wave" of the pandemic, as officials urged all citizens to take necessary precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
In view of the situation, Islamabad's district administration announced restrictions on outdoor dining after 10pm in a notification circulated on Friday.
“Today we had 747 positive cases in Islamabad,” Muhammad Hamza Shafqat said in a Twitter post on Friday evening. “It is the highest number of covid positive cases in a single day in Islamabad ever.”
The Islamabad administration also said markets and restaurants in the federal capital would remain closed over the weekend, though grocery stores and pharmacies would continue to operate.
The district administration also allowed restaurant takeaway service, though it said that it had to restrict commercial activities in the federal capital due to a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The government has already given a two-week spring break to educational institutes in Peshawar, Islamabad and several cities of Punjab province to bring the rising number of coronavirus cases under control.