Daily Times

The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients jumped to 58,477 on Tuesday, with 20,654 cases reported in Punjab, 23,507 in Sindh, 8,080 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3,468 in Balochistan, 638 in Gilgit Baltistan, 1,728 in Islamabad and 223 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus has claimed at least 1,211 lives while about 18,314 coronavirus patients have recovered so far.

The confirmed Covid-19 cases have exceeded 5.5 million globally, with over 346,000 fatalities and more than 2.2 million recoveries, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University. The US is leading the world in the number of both infections and deaths, totalling more than 1.6 million and nearly 100,000, respectively.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has warned that the coronavirus cases and deaths are on the rise and that ‘strict lockdowns’ could be reimposed across the country if the trajectory continues. Lamenting that the government’s instructions and SOPs to control the spread of the virus have not been not being followed, the prime minister’s aide said, “As we promised when we eased the lockdown, if this trend continues we may reimpose strict lockdowns after Eid.” He said the spread of the virus can only be halted by staying at home as much as possible, practicing social distancing, wearing masks and taking precautionary measures while going out.

On Tuesday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department, in its daily situational report, confirmed eight more deaths due to coronavirus in the past 24 hours to bring the provincial death toll to 416. Four casualties were reported from Swat, two from Peshawar, and one each from Malakand and Bajaur. At least 179 new cases were also confirmed to take the tally 8,259 in the province, while 49 more patients recovered, taking the total to 2,578. Active cases in the province stand at 5,265.

The Gilgit Baltistan health department confirmed one more casualty due to coronavirus in the past 24 hours to being the region’s death toll to nine. Eight more people contracted Covid-19 to take the tally to 638, it said in the daily situational report. At least 457 patients have recovered from the disease while active cases stand at 172 in the region.

Another 577 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Punjab, taking the provincial tally to 20,654, according to a situation report issued by the Punjab health department. Fifteen more people died over the last 24 hours, with Punjab’s death toll from the virus so far rising to 352.

The Sindh Health Department reported 573 new cases of coronavirus in the province. This takes Sindh’s case tally to 23,507 and the national count to 57,701. The province also reported five new deaths, taking the total number of deaths in Sindh to 374 and the total number of deaths in the country to 1,187.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Humayun Khan tested positive for Covid-19. Khan, who won the 2018 general election from Lower Dir, was tested on showing symptoms of coronavirus two days ago. He has gone into self-isolation at home as an initial precautionary measure and did not meet anyone on Eid.

PML-N leader Nehal Hashmi also tested positive for coronavirus. He is under self-isolation at his home in Karachi.

PML-N leader Amir Muqam has also tested positive for the coronavirus and is currently quarantined at his home. “I have quarantined myself at my home,” Muqam, the president for the PML-N’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter, said on Twitter.

Badar Shehbaz, the office secretary of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, also fell victim to the coronavirus. The health condition of Badar Shehbaz reportedly worsened after offering Eid prayer at the residence of Shehbaz Sharif. Later, Badar underwent Covid-19 tests which came back positive. Following Badar’s infection, Shehbaz Sharif has restricted entry of all persons to his residence and also gone into isolation.

With 10 more testing positive for coronavirus, the number of Covid-19 positive doctors at Lahore General Hospital has risen to 70. YDA Punjab President Dr Salman Haseeb Chaudhary and YDAP Patron Dr Aatif Majeed are among those diagnosed with the highly contagious disease. Both of them were performing duties in the corona ward.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the association warned of taking ‘strict steps’ if proper quarantine facilities and minimum exposure policy among other measures are not taken for the protection of the fraternity by the government. Medical Superintendent (MS) of Lahore hospital, while confirming the development, said that they are conducting tests of more medics to ascertain the actual numbers.