Whopping rise in Pakistan's coronavirus cases reported on second day of Ramadan

Nearly 700 new cases of the novel coronavirus and a dozen virus-related deaths were reported in Pakistan on Sunday as the country continued to grapple with the pandemic amid new concerns of spread during Ramadan.

Over the past 24 hours, the number infections rose from 12,658 to 13,318, at the time this report was filed.

Punjab led the tally at 5,446, as opposed to 5,326 a day prior, marking an increase of 120 new cases.

Sindh had 383 new cases, rising from an aggregate of 4,232 a day earlier to 4,615 today.

KP recorded 71 new cases, bumping up from 1,793 to 1,864, Balochistan had 60 new cases, increasing from 721 to 781, Islamabad had 12 new ones, inflating from 223 to 235, Gilgit-Baltistan had 10 new ones, expanding from 308 to 318, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir recorded four new cases, growing from 55 to 59.

The total number of deaths, at the time of this report, had risen from 265 a day prior to 277. Of these, five were from KP, three each in Punjab and Sindh, one in Balochistan, and none in GB, AJK or Islamabad.

The death tolls in KP, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, GB, and Islamabad now stand at 93, 81, 81, 11, three, and three, respectively.

Punjab

With an increase of 120 cases, Punjab's total cases have now reached 5,446. Among the province's common citizens, 119 new cases emerged over the past 24 hours, while one more participant of the Tableeghi Jamaat from Rajanpur tested positive.

Half of Punjab's new cases were from Lahore, 22 from Gujranwala, 11 from Rawalpindi, 10 from Gujrat, five from Bhakkar, three each from Faisalabad, Mandi Bahauddin, and Rahim Yar Khan, and one each from Bahawalnagar and Pakpattan.

There were no new cases among the pilgrims or the citizens, which stood at 768 and 86, respectively.

Sindh

The pandemic turned from "bad to worse" in Sindh as 383 new positive cases were recorded over the past 24 hours, making it the highest surge in the daily tally since the past two months.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said Karachi was Sindh's worst-affected division, with 301 new cases. He added that 3,028 tests were conducted, of which 383 patients were diagnosed as positive.

Of the new cases, those in Karachi constituted 12% of the tests, he said, mentioning that in total, 3,077 of Sindh's 4,615 cases were in the city.

The South district had 895 cases, of which 80 were new ones. Another 66, 99, 20, 26, and 10 new cases were recorded in the East, Central, West, Korangi, and Malir districts, bringing their respective totals to 676, 594, 322, 318, and 272.

Across the province, 41,216 tests had been carried out so far, translating into an 11.2% rate of testing positive. Three people died, bumping up the death toll to 81 — or 1.8% of the total patients.

At present, 2,432 (66%) of the 3,662 patients under treatment were in self-isolation, 767 (21%) at designated isolation centers, and 463 (13%) in various hospitals. Of the total patients, 41 were in critical condition and 12 on ventilators.

Shah said 70 patients were discharged after recovery. "872 (18.9%) patients have recovered so far,” he noted.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

71 new cases (2 from Torkham quarantine centre) were confirmed in the last 24 hours taking total tally to 1,864. 5 new deaths were reported taking tally to 98. 30 new patients have recovered taking the total tally to 515 in KP.

Highest concentration of cases was in and around Peshawar, Mardan, and Swat, with more than 100 cases in each city and over 35 in those surrounding them, as well as Mansehra and Abbottabad.

There were 24 new cases in Peshawar, 21 in Swat, six in Lower Dir, five in Bajaur, four each in Malakand and Abbottabad, two in Buner, and one each in  Charsadda, Nowshera, and Kurram.

Four people died in Peshawar and one in Swat.

Balochistan

Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani reported 60 more cases of local transmission in the province.

The province now has 633 cases of the virus. With pilgrims from Iran included, the total tally stands at 781.