Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Monday rose to 43,168.
Overall, 15,346 cases were reported in Punjab, 17,241 in Sindh, 6,230 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2,692 in Balochistan, 540 in Gilgit Baltistan, 997 in Islamabad, and 112 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the National Command and Control Centre, the death toll related to COVID-19 has reached 923, while at least 11,922 patients have fully recovered.
The number of coronavirus cases has continued to soar despite the country remained under a lockdown nearly one and a half month.
However, the federal and provincial governments have started easing lockdown on the condition that standard operation procedures (SOPs) will be followed by the business community as well as the masses.
On Monday, the Supreme also ordered reopening of shopping malls, which were shut down during the lockdown imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, across the country.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on Monday said that the train operations across the country would resume from May 20 (Wednesday).
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has given the permission to partially resume the train services.
On May 16, partial domestic flight operations were also restored in the country from five major airports on Saturday to facilitate the passengers.
Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that we will have to learn to live with the coronavirus this year as its cure is not forthcoming soon.
In his televised address to explain the situation regarding the Covid-19, the premier said that the country could not afford an indefinite lockdown as 150 million people have been affected by the lockdown enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
PM Khan said that the government is prepared to deal with an increase in the number of coronavirus cases and is working on increasing healthcare capacity.
While reiterating that the government was dealing with the crisis on the basis of consensus, the prime minister appealed to the provinces to reopen public transport.
Khan insisted that it was the common man that was suffering due to public transport being suspended.
The global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 4.7 million and death toll tops 312,000.
