Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 426,142 on Wednesday after 2,963 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall, 187,684 cases were reported in Sindh, 124,804 in Punjab, 50,506 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17,540 in Balochistan, 33,420 in Islamabad, 4,761 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 7,427 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's Covid-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached 8,487 with 89 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 372,271 after another 1,797 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Wednesday appealed to people to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain spread of the second of COVID-19.
Talking to media after a review meeting on COVID-19 situation, in Islamabad, he said Pakistan successfully overcame the first wave of the pandemic, and it can again achieve the same success by adhering to the SOPs.
The minister said the government has made some important and difficult decisions to control the pandemic, which proved quite effective.
Asad said the government will soon announce relief package for the sectors closed in the second wave of the pandemic.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan will chair a meeting of National Coordination Committee (NCC) on COVID-19 tomorrow to review the latest situation about Coronavirus in the country and take necessary decisions,” the minister said.
He added that the meeting will also be attended by the provincial chief ministers.
Asad regretted that people are not following the SOPs of Coronavirus as they did during the first wave.
The minister paid tributes to the doctors and paramedics who are rendering their services to help people in the pandemic.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 68 million and death toll tops 1.556 million.
