Pakistan has reported 83 deaths and 1,531 new infections — 50 per cent lower compared to Pakistan’s infections in April– in the past 24 hours.
The National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) said that out of 83 people, 36 died on ventilators; 10 were not even hospitalised at the time of death. Sind reported 13 deaths, Punjab reported 30 deaths, 20 people died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three died in Islamabad, two died in Azad Kashmir. The total number of deaths due to the virus has touched 19,467 in Pakistan.
In Multan, 53 per cent of the total number of ventilators is occupied, in Lahore the figure is 58pc, in Peshawar 43pc ventilators are in use, while in Bahwalpur the number is 40pc.
In about 25 days’ time, the influx of cases has dropped down by 50pc, the positivity rate has dropped by 3pc while the number of tests per day has also dropped by almost 55pc. On April 19, Pakistan conducted over 68,000 tests, while on May 14 Pakistan did estimated 30,000 tests. On April 19, as per official data, Pakistan had 5,455 cases, 137 deaths, an 8 per cent positivity ratio, and 68,002 tests.
On May 14, as per NCOC data, Pakistan had 1,531 cases, 83 deaths, a positivity ratio of 5.06pc, and tests at 30,248
Third Wave
Last Saturday, a nine-day shutdown affecting travel and tourist hotspots in a bid to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr came into effect.
READ MORE: What has Punjab govt banned on Eid?
Businesses, hotels and restaurants, as well as markets and parks, will be closed, while public transport between provinces and within cities has been halted. The military has been mobilised to monitor the restrictions.
Mosques, however, will remain open. The government fears that curbs on places of worship could ignite confrontation in the deeply conservative republic. Last week, the country slashed international flights and sealed border crossings with Iran and Afghanistan in the wake of the soaring infections.
It may be noted that the government has warned the public of risks in the coming days. Planning Minister Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, had said that the need for caution was clear. “Need the country to unite in response and achieve once again what we achieved in the first wave, for which we received global praise. Inshallah, we will do it again, together,” he said in a message on Twitter.
