The coronavirus claimed nine more lives across the country in the past 24 hours, taking the number of people succumbing to the highly contagious disease to 6,283. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 415 persons tested positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours. Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Till now, 129,081 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 96,636 in Punjab, 35,923 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12,742 in Balochistan, 15,578 in Islamabad, 2,816 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 2,277 in Azad Kashmir. Furthermore, 2,394 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Sindh, 2,195 in Punjab, 1,250 in KP, 141 in Balochistan, 175 in Islamabad, 67 in GB and 61 in Azad Kashmir. Pakistan has so far conducted 2,559,261 coronavirus tests, with 23,483 in the last 24 hours. As many as 279,937 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 644 patients are in a critical condition. The number of active coronavirus cases has come down to 8,833 as 279,937 patients have recuperated across country. No Covid-19 affected patient is on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan. Almost 110 ventilators are occupied across Pakistan out of 1,920 ventilators allocated for COVID-19 patients. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that during the last 24 hours, 96 people were affected from coronavirus whereas 92,421 patients have so far recovered in the province. He said that the number of active cases of coronavirus in the province stands at 2,020. He maintained that 926,113 tests have been conducted in Punjab so far. He said that two patients died during the last 24 hours which took the death toll in the province to 2195. He said that 9,939 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours, while the number of patients in critical condition in the province is 14. Usman Buzdar said that positive results are coming out of government initiatives taken to deal with the pandemic in Punjab. He said that adherence to coronavirus SOPs is being ensured during the holy month of Muharram. “Coronavirus has not yet ended, therefore people should take preventive measures,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s strategy to deal with the pandemic has been encouraged even at the international level. “The number of patients is decreasing day by day due to the effective measures taken by the government,” he added.