Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Monday rose to 265,083 after about 1,587 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country over the last twenty-four hours.
Overall, 113,007 cases were reported in Sindh, 90,191 in Punjab, 32,086 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,436 in Balochistan, 14,599 in Islamabad, 1,894 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 1,849 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's Covid-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached 5,599 with 31 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
The National Command and Operation Center’s (NCOC) data shows that there has been an improvement in the number of recoveries from COVID-19 in the country with figure now reaching 205,929.
Nearly one-and-a-half months after imposing the lockdown across the country, the government announced to ease the lockdown in phases.
Later, "Smart lockdowns" had been imposed in Covid-19 hotspots in major cities across the country.
As per NCOC, the implementation on the smart lockdown in the country has significantly reduced the number of deaths.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that timely steps taken to deal with the pandemic, despite limited resources, has reduced the number of infections.
During a meeting with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar in Islamabad, the foreign minister said implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the government must be ensured.
The governor briefed the foreign minister about special security arrangements to be made in Punjab for Eidul Azha.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 14.5 million and death toll tops 600,000.
