Death rate spikes as 136 die in a day

ISLAMABAD: Coronavirus continues to affect and kill more people in Pakistan, as 136 people died in a single day on Friday countrywide, taking the death toll to 3,295.

The number of confirmed cases rose to 168,728 with addition of 4,944 new cases.

Sindh reported 65,163 cases, Punjab 61,678, Balochistan 9,162, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 20,790, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,225, Islamabad 9,941 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 769.

A total of 61,383 people have successfully recovered and sent back home.

The prevalence of the pandemic in urban localities, suburban areas and low-lying localities in Lahore – the Covid-19 epicenter of Punjab – suggests a uniform spread of the virus among all segments of society.

The mortality rate of the coronavirus in Punjab has reached 2.05 percent as 1,265 patients died out of a total of 61,678 patients in the province till June 19.

The percentage of Covid-19 positive cases hovers around 15.53 percent in Punjab till date as 61,678 were confirmed positive out of 396,917 tests conducted so far since the pandemic outbreak in Pakistan.

Besides, the novel coronavirus has affected a staggering 21 percent of health workers in Punjab as 983 were confirmed as patients after testing of 4,608 medical personnel till June 19.

The disease has overwhelmingly affected the male population in Punjab with nearly 70 per cent of its victims being males.

According to statistics, 69.71 per cent male patients and 30.31pc females have contracted the coronavirus in Punjab by June 19. Besides, the highest ratio of the patients was found between the age-bracket of 25 and 34 years in Punjab.

Out of 61,678 confirmed patients recorded in Punjab till June 19, 43,010 males and 18,668 females have contracted the virus. The highest number of 19,162 cases has been confirmed among the age bracket of 31 to 45 years, followed by 17,862 among 16-30 age group, 13,276 among 46-60 age group, 6,254 among 61-75 age group, 2,946 among 1-15 age group and 1,054 among people of 75 years and above.

The Punjab government has mapped the concentration of the cases in Lahore with the highest rate of spread among the residents of the area.

Out of confirmed cases of 61,678 and 1,265 deaths in Punjab till June 19, there are 58,898 infections among common citizens and 2,780 cases among high-risk groups isolated at quarantine centres for members of Tableeghi Jamaat, Zaireen from Iran and prisoners in the province.

Sindh has become the first province to cross 65,000 coronavirus cases. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that 13,642 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours, out of which 2,894 came back positive, taking the provincial tally to 65,163. The province also reported its highest single-day death toll at 49, taking the total fatalities to 1,013. Shah said that 673 patients are in critical condition while 113 are on ventilators.

The chief minister added that 1,691 more people recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours. The total number of recoveries in the province has reached 32,725.

Meanwhile, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) in collaboration with Digital Pakistan Friday launched a helpline to support and facilitate frontline health workers — including doctors, paramedics and other medical workers — in the fight against coronavirus.

Taking to Twitter, the premier's special adviser on health Dr Zafar Mirza announced that through the launched helpline, a complaint management system will direct the complaints to NCOC and the relevant provincial authority will inform complainants about the required action.

"To support font-line workers, NCOC & Digital Pakistan launched today a HELPLINE. Call 1166 or send a Whatsapp [message] to +92 300 1111166. A complaint management system will direct it to NCOC & relevant provincial authority and complainants will be informed about the action," Mirza wrote on Twitter.