Pakistan records largest single-day spike in coronavirus cases

By Zahid Hussain Khan

ISLAMABAD: For the first time since the coronavirus outbreak began, Pakistan has reported over 4,000 new cases in a single day.

At least 4,131 people have been tested positive in the past 24 hours, according to latest figures released by the National Command and Operation Center on Friday morning. All in all, 80,463 people have contracted the virus in Pakistan.

The death toll from the pandemic rose to 1,688 with 67 people succumbing to the disease.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province with 31,086 cases followed by Punjab which has recorded 29,449 cases.  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 10, 897 positive cases, Balochistan has 4740, Gilgit Baltistan has 779 and AJk has 284 cases.

A total of 28, 923 patients have recovered from the respiratory disease.

According to the NCOC, 17, 370 new tests were conducted in the last 24 hours and of them 4,131 came out positive.

Govt to set up testing labs

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar says the government has set up more coronavirus testing laboratories in the country to meet 30,000 tests per day.

Talking to a private news channel, he said federal government has significantly increased its testing capacity, allowing health experts to identify cases of COVID-19 and support efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus.

He said that the coronavirus testing capacity has been increased with more than 100 testing labs in the country and capacity target is an important milestone on our journey to control the spread of the virus.

The minister said that complete lock down was converted into smart lock down to facilitate the people especially daily wagers.