Pakistan on Saturday reported nine deaths by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases surged to 288,319. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,166. According to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 747 persons tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad. Till now, 125,904 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 95,203 in Punjab, 35,091 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 15,346 in Islamabad, 12,144 in Balochistan, 2,179 in Azad Kashmir and 2,452 in Gilgit-Baltistan. Furthermore, 2,313 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Sindh, 2,180 in Punjab, 1,238 in KP, 138 in Balochistan, 173 in Islamabad, 60 in GB and 60 in Azad Kashmir. Pakistan has so far conducted 2,253,131 coronavirus tests, with 23,722 tests in the last 24 hours. As many as 265,624 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country, whereas 768 others are in a critical condition. Meanwhile, outdoor patient departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals in Balochistan reopened on Saturday after five months. Strict precautionary measures have been put in place to avoid coronavirus transmission. Hundreds of patients thronged to government hospitals for medical purposes following the announcement by the provincial government to reopen all OPDs. The provincial government had closed the OPDs after the imposition of lockdown in the country in March to control the Covid-19 pandemic. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Education Minister Akbar Ayub Khan on Saturday said that private schools were only allowed to open to deal with their administrative matters. “Parents should inform the government if they are pressurised to send their children to schools,” he said in his reaction over the opening of schools in Swat. He said only staff of the schools is allowed to come to school to discharge administrative matters, adding that strict action would be taken against those schools, found violating the orders of the government.