Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 672,931 on Thursday after 4,974 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall 265,680 cases were confirmed in Sindh, 223,181 in Punjab, 88,099 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19,576 in Balochistan, 58,557 in Islamabad 5,033 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 12,805 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 14,530 with 98 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 605,274 after another 2,148 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed to start an aggressive awareness campaign for implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to contain third wave of COVID-19 in the country.
Addressing a meeting of National Coordination Committee (NCC) on COVID-19 through video link on Wednesday, he said wearing mask is the effective strategy to prevent spread of third wave.
The premier expressed concern over negligence by the people in observing SOPs saying wearing of mask has been remained more effective across the world.
“We adopted a balance policy to prevent the pandemic and to protect livelihood simultaneously,” Imran Khan said.
The prime minister directed the provincial governments to ensure implementation of SOPs besides spreading awareness through effective role of district administration.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 127.877,000 million and death toll tops 2.796, 000 million.
