The total active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Tuesday were recorded 7,070 as 532 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. Eight corona patient, who was under treatment in hospital died on Tuesday, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC). No Covid-affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Balochistan, while 107 ventilators elsewhere in Pakistan, out of 1,912 allocated for COVID-19 patients, were occupied. Some 33,744 tests were conducted across the country on Tuesday, including 13,056 in Sindh, 10,593 in Punjab, 4,068 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 3,699 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,113 in Balochistan, 227 in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), and 988 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Around 293,916 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients. Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 307,418 cases were detected so far, including AJK 2,566, Balochistan 14,607, GB 3,542, ICT 16,246, KP 37,418, Punjab 98,602 and Sindh 134,437. About 6,432 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,469 in Sindh, 2,227 in Punjab, 1,258 in KP, 180 in ICT, 145 in Balochistan, 83 in GB and 70 in AJK, one of them on Tuesday. A total of 3,264,216 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 735 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities. Some 880 corona patients were admitted in hospitals across the country. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that the province’s Covid-19 death rate has fallen but fatalities were still being reported. Chairing a meeting reviewing the coronavirus situation in Sindh, he said that high risk areas include markets, shopping malls, tourist areas and hotels. He directed the education department to ensure the use of the face masks at schools in the province. “Action should be taken against schools which fail to comply with standard operating procedures (SOPs) for curbing the spread of the virus,” he said. Punjab reported 115 coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours. No new deaths were recorded during this period. With the new cases, the provincial total has risen to 98,602 while the death toll remains 2,227. The district health officer of Lahore has been placed under suspension and an inquiry ordered to penalise all those responsible for providing fictitious figures of coronavirus, said a health department spokesperson. The action has been taken after an inquiry panel proposed suspending the the DHO and the deputy district health officers (DDHOs) of eight towns in the city after they were found guilty of reporting fake/fictitious Covid-19 cases. In the initial report, action has been proposed against the officers by the inquiry panel headed by the deputy secretary (general) of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) Punjab. According to the panel, the allegations proved that the officers had made 1,883 suspicious entries on Covid-19 dashboard from Aug 23 to 31. There was also the very serious allegation that 159 out of 1,883 samples of the suspected Covid-19 patients were not ‘human samples’, an official privy to the information told Dawn. Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have collectively reported 84 coronavirus cases and two deaths during the last 24 hours. Here is a breakdown of the cases and deaths recorded: Islamabad: 39 cases, AJK: 16 cases, 1 death, GB: 29 cases, 1 death Pakistan has reported 757 coronavirus recoveries during the last 24 hours, according to the government’s portal for tracking the spread of the disease in the country. The total has risen to 293,916 while the recovery rate is 95.6 per cent.