Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Saturday rose to 171,666 after 6,604 new infections were reported over the past 24 hours.
Overall, 64,216 cases were reported in Punjab, 65,163 in Sindh, 20,790 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9,162 in Balochistan, 10,279 in Islamabad, 1,253 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 803 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's Covid-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached 3,382 with 153 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours while around 63,504 patients have fully recovered from the disease.
Nearly one-and-a-half months after imposing the lockdown across the country, the government announced to ease the lockdown in phases, however, the number of coronavirus cases has continued to soar.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that the government will facilitate overseas Pakistanis returning home who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Tomorrow, we will partially open our airspace for international flights. This is being done specially to help our overseas workers who have suffered most in this pandemic but have shown great courage and made us proud,” PM Imran Khan said this in a tweet.
We welcome you back home and our government will facilitate you in every way,” the premier added.
Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged the countries to remain extremely vigilant as the number of cases hit a new peak.
Speaking at a virtual news conference, Director General of the world health agency Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the coronavirus pandemic is now in a new and dangerous phase with the disease accelerating at the same time as people tire of lockdowns.
He said more than 150,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported to WHO in a single day.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 8.57 million and death toll tops 456,000.
