Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 506,701 on Tuesday after 2,408 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall, 227,885 cases were confirmed in Sindh, 146,016 in Punjab, 61,648 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18,429 in Balochistan, 39,340 in Islamabad, 4,882 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 8,501 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 10,717 with 41 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 461,977 after another 3,606 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Tuesday said that the government is promptly taking decisions to procure the Anti Covid vaccine.
Briefing the media persons in Islamabad, he said talks were being held with a Chinese company for the procurement of the vaccine.
The minister said initially the vaccine will be administered to the healthcare staff which will be followed by other people.
Asad said that the government's timely decisions and the responsibility demonstrated by the masses greatly contributed to check the spread of the contagion in the country.
The minister appealed the people to continue to follow the precautionary measures to avoid the devastation caused by the virus in the US and other western countries.
Asad Umar said the government opted for a smart lockdown policy in the wake of first wave of Covid-19 to protect the lives and livelihoods.
“The complete lockdown policy adopted by some of the regional countries added to their economies woes,” he said.
The minister said the government's handling of Covid-19 was appreciated by several world institutions including the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Economic Forum (WEF).
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 90 million and death toll tops 1.9 million.
