ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s COVID-19 recovery rate jumped to 95.9 percent while the death rate remained at 2.1 percent on Saturday, according to data provided on the health ministry portal.

“COVID-19 recovery rate jumped to 95.9 percent while the death rate remained at 2.1 percent,” the ministry said, adding that 288,536 people had recovered from the disease since it was first reported in March.

Meanwhile, the total fatality count continued to remain low with three deaths reported in the past 24 hours, while 290,8379 tests have been conducted so far, the ministry said.

Authorities credit the drop in numbers to “timely intervention,” with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying earlier this week that Pakistan was among a handful of nations “whose preparation and response offer lessons for the rest of the world to fight the COVID-19 outbreak and future pandemics.”

“Pakistan has used the infrastructure it developed in its fight against polio to tackle COVID-19. Community health workers, previously used to vaccinate children for polio, have been redeployed for contact tracing and monitoring,” Ghebreyesus had said during the media briefing last week.

Life has resumed normalcy in several parts of the country due to the significant decline in COVID-19 numbers, with restaurants and tourism allowed to resume operations while schools, universities and marriage halls are set to open this month.