ISLAMABAD: Seventeen people have lost their lives due to the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, making it the highest number of fatalities within that period since the emergence of the pandemic in the country.
Pakistan has witnessed a steady rise in the infectious disease and its national tally has surpassed 6,500, with 520 new COVID-19 cases.
According to the official data, the total number of deaths due to the virus currently stand at 124, with Pakistan’s most heavily populated Punjab province reporting the highest number of cases at 3,217.
The second highest number of virus cases is reported in Sindh at 1,668. The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has reported 912 while the country’s largest province by area, Balochistan, has recorded 280 cases.
The number of reported cases in Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad and Azad Kashmir is 237, 145 and 46, respectively.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s health minister Taimur Jhagra said on Thursday that Peshawar had reported the third highest number of discovered cases in the country after Karachi and Lahore.
In a Twitter post, Jhagra said: “As a picture of various hotspots emerges, a few insights. Our biggest worry and challenge is Peshawar, where numerous cases are emerging every day. 235 positive cases in all, and 38 new ones yesterday (Wednesday).”
While sharing the positive news, Jhagra said that six districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – “Upper and Lower Chitral, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Kolai Palas and Battagram” – remained free of the coronavirus cases.
To limit the spread of the virus, Pakistan on Tuesday extended the lockdown until April 30 but also allowed several industries to resume their operations to address the economic slowdown.
