ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has seen a 28 percent decrease in the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients across the country with Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar attributing the decline to an “effective implementation of smart lockdown measures.”

“On June 20, 2,969 patients were being provided oxygen while 546 were on ventilators. Now there are 1,762 patients on oxygenated beds and 394 on ventilators, which depict a 28 percent reduction in number,” he said in a Twitter post on Saturday.

The number of daily infections has also seen a gradual decline since the start of the month while the fatality count dropped from 153 on June 19 to 74 on Sunday. 

According to the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 portal, as of Sunday, the national caseload stood at 248,871 – with 2,521 new infections reported – while 5,197 people had died from the disease.

Meanwhile, the country has also seen an uptick in recoveries with 156,700 cases recorded thus far.

Urging people to exercise caution during the upcoming Eid Al Adha celebrations, Prime Minister Imran Khan said it was necessary to avert a resurgence of the coronavirus as the curve was flattening in the country.

“I appeal to my people not to do again what they did on previous Eid (Eidul Fitr). Any public gathering causes the spread of the virus and puts pressure on hospitals, doctors and nurses besides causing deaths,” he told the media after inaugurating the first Isolation Hospital and Infections Treatment Center in Islamabad on July 9.