Pak records lowest single-day spike in coronavirus cases after a month

Pakistan on Friday recorded its lowest single-day spike in coronavirus cases in about a month after 2,775 people tested positive for the infection, taking the national tally to 195,745.

The highest single-day spike was recorded on June 13 with 6,825 new cases. On May 29, Pakistan recorded 2,429 cases, the lowest.

According to the data released by the Ministry of National Health Services, 59 people died due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 3,962.

So far 84,168 patients have recovered from the disease.

Sindh has recorded maximum 75,168 patients followed by Punjab with 71,987, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 24,303, Islamabad 11,981, Balochistan 9,946, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,398 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 962 patients.

So far, the authorities conducted 1,193,017 tests including 21,041 tests during the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Pakistan sought the World Health Organisation's (WHO) support to develop guidelines for the upcoming Eidul Azha when cattle markets are held across the country to sell animals for sacrifice.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Zafar Mirza during a meeting held on Thursday through video link with WHO Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari and his team asked for help to prepare guidelines.

Mirza said Pakistan is fighting COVID-19 through a robust and coordinated national response.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Pakistan's response to the contagion and to explore areas where the WHO could provide technical guidance and support to help the country fight the virus.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday defended his government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying there has been no confusion or contradiction in the official policies since the start of the disease.

"They say again and again that there was confusion ... if there was one country whose government did not have confusion, it was ours," Khan said while addressing Parliament.

He acknowledged about “a lot of pressure" exerted by the Cabinet colleagues to impose a strict lockdown but he refused to follow that path and even faced criticism for that.