ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's coronavirus cases surpassed the 100,000 mark as 4,728 new infections were reported in the last 24 hours, ministry of health’s national dashboard on COVID-19 said on Monday.

The country's virus tally currently stands at 103,671 with 38,903 cases in Punjab, 38,108 in Sindh, 13,487 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 6,516 in Balochistan, 932 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 5,329 in Islamabad and 396 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, according to official statistics.

With 2,067 reported deaths from coronavirus in the country to date, Pakistan became the 14th nation to have crossed the 100,000 mark on Sunday.

The government further said that Pakistan was fast working to increase its testing capacity and had so far conducted 705,833 tests, including 22,650 in the last 24 hours alone.

The South Asian nation with a population of 208 million witnessed a sharp spike in virus cases in the wake of the easing lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid al-Fitr on May 24, pushing the government to order closure of all major markets and shopping malls once again as people went lax over lockdown rules.

Pakistan's former prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, tested positive for coronavirus on Monday among many other lawmakers, and announced to self quarantine himself at home.

Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad also contracted the virus, his office confirmed while adding that he had gone into self-isolation for two weeks as per doctors’ advice.

On Sunday, the country's mainstream opposition parties demanded the government to  impose a three-week strict lockdown in key cities of heavily populated Punjab province including Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Multan to control the spread of the virus.

Health officials told Arab News that hospitals in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, were fast running out of beds owing to the rapid increase in virus cases while one government-designated facility even expressed inability to receive any new patients.

Caught between an alarming surge in virus cases and easing nationwide lockdowns, Pakistan has been ranked among the third-riskiest countries for coronavirus by the Deep Knowledge Group on nations and their safety measures against the global pandemic.

Pakistan’s Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar  urged the nation on Monday to show responsibility and discipline to contain the spread of COVID-19.

While addressing a media briefing, he said the government was focusing to improve the country's health care system by providing essential equipment to hospitals.

Umar added that the federal government would ensure provision of 1,000 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds to hospitals during this month. “250 ventilators have been provided to all four provinces along with Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir,” the minister said.