Pakistan records slight drop in daily coronavirus case count for second day

• Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity ratio reaches 3.63%
• Pakistan reports 21 deaths, total toll rises to 22,618.
• NCOC confirms 1,590 coronavirus cases in a single day, total infections rise to 976,867.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's daily coronavirus case load dropped slightly for the second consecutive day after the country reported 1,590 new cases Tuesday morning.

The daily case count had been on an upward trend since July 7, but the country recorded a slight drop a day earlier and the downward trend continued today. 

Another 21 people died of coronavirus in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, pushing the national death tally since the pandemic started to 22,618.

Latest data issued by the National Command and Operation Centre Tuesday morning shows that after 43,790 tests were conducted on July 12, 1,590 people tested positive for coronavirus.

Pakistan's positivity rate is currently 3.63%. A day earlier, Pakistan's positivity rate, too, dropped after being on an upward trend for six consecutive days since July 6.

The total active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan are currently 39,644.

Read more: Pakistan Army may be called in to implement coronavirus SOPs: Dr Faisal Sultan

According to a province-wise breakdown, the total cases reported in Sindh so far are 348,385, in Punjab 348,509, in Khyber Paktunkhwa 139,593, in Islamabad Capital Territory 83,831, in Balochistan 28,321, in Gilgit-Baltistan 6,972 and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir 21,256.

At least 914,605 people have recovered so far across Pakistan, making it a significant count.

According to NCOC's figures, the total number of cases has reached 976,867.

Govt's plan to call in Pakistan Army to help with coronavirus SOP implementation

A day earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan had said that the Pakistan Army may be called in to implement coronavirus standard operating procedures.

He said this may happen as coronavirus cases have increased due to the negligence of citizens. Dr Sultan was speaking to the media in Islamabad on Monday.

Read more: Pakistan's COVID-19 cases saw 'definitive' uptick in last 7 days: Dr Faisal Sultan

He said that the last few weeks have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases, with the positivity rate going up from 2% to 4%. He also spoke about the rapid increase in the Delta variant of coronavirus cases after an increase in the Alpha variant.

Dr Sultan said the main cause of this surge is violation of SOPs and the new variant of coronavirus coming from India.