Hope and caution as Pakistan records one virus death in a day

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: Only one person died of Covid-19 in Pakistan in the 24 hours leading to Saturday — the country’s lowest death count since March — as the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) urged people to continue to follow government advice during Muharram processions.

The single person who lost his life to Covid-19 expired on Friday in a hospital in Sindh. Pakistan recorded 319 coronavirus cases in a 24-hour-period, with 8,748 active cases. Total coronavirus cases thus far are 295,372 out of which 280,340 have recovered (403 have recovered as of Saturday) — more than 90 per cent of cases.

Pakistan’s success against the virus has been praised by various international publications, with a foreign news channel terming it a “rare, fragile success” and a foreign magazine reporting that Pakistan has “dramatically reversed course” of the coronavirus crisis. In comparison, neighbouring India recorded the largest number of daily cases in the world — more than 77,000 — on Friday. The NCOC, the government body credited with turning the tide of the virus battle, termed the decline in spread of the pandemic “propitious” and highlighted that while the disease spread has declined, the threat of coronavirus is “still lingering” which can only be contained through public cooperation and adherence to health guidelines.

The NCOC has urged the masses to ensure maximum implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) during Muharram Majalis and processions to avoid contracting coronavirus. It reiterated that adhering to safety advice was the only way to avoid a resurgence.

In a meeting on Saturday, the NCOC discussed the coronavirus situation, opening up of schools with safety guidelines and declining disease trends. The forum also mulled reopening schools with safety measures and reviewed efforts made in this regard.

In other positive news, no Covid-19 patient was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan, the NCOC said. Just 112 ventilators were occupied across the country out of 1,920 ventilators allocated for Covid-19, it added. During the last 24 hours, 22,434 tests were conducted — 5,247 in Sindh, 9,603 in Punjab, 3,556 in KP, 3,004 in Islamabad, 473 in Balochistan, 276 in GB and 275 in AJK. A total of 2,581,695 tests have been conducted thus far.

Of the total 295,372 cases detected so far, AJK has 2,290, Balochistan 12,804, GB 2,832, Islamabad 15,597, KP 35,971, Punjab 96,699 and Sindh 129,179. Of the total deaths, 2,395 lost their lives in Sindh, 2,195 in Punjab, 1,250 in KP — where one died in hospital on 27 August. In Islamabad, 175 deaths were recorded, in Balochistan 141, in GB 67, while the lowest deaths were reported from AJK — 61.

Around 735 hospitals were equipped with Covid facilities with 1,084 patients admitted across the country.