Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 593,453 on Tuesday after 1,353 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall 259,956 cases were confirmed in Sindh, 178,648 in Punjab, 74,167 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19,121 in Balochistan, 45,976 in Islamabad 4,959 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 10,626 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 13,281 with 54 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 563,823 after another 3,365 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has approved a range of initiatives aimed at assisting firms and individuals operating in support of Islamic pilgrimages.
According to Saudi state news agency, the initiatives are aimed at mitigating the financial and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across the sector that provides support for the haj and Umrah pilgrimages.
They include exempting accommodation facilities from the annual fees for municipal commercial activities’ licenses in the cities of Mecca and Medina.
Bus licenses operating in facilities transporting pilgrims will remain valid without charge for a year, and the collection of customs duties for new buses will be postponed for the upcoming haj season for three months.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 116.521,000 million and death toll tops 2.589,000 million.
