Pakistan’s Covid-19 cases cross 200,000 mark

The number of Covid-19 positive cases in the country has increased above 200,000 mark  to 208,021 as of 7:02pm on June 29 with 95,407 recoveries and 4,241 deaths reported since the pandemic first appeared in the country. 

Earlier, the government had projected the number to cross 250,000 mark during the month of June as initial data collected by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had estimated the cases to see a steep increase. 

Even though the cases in June were lower than expected, some observers have warned that this might be due to the decline in overall testing and the actual number may be well above the government’s claims. 

The number of tests in the country has dropped from 30,520 on June 21 to 21,033 on June 26. The NCOC and the government, however, are yet to provide any reason for the fall in the number of Covid-19 tests.

However, Planning Minister Asad Umar last week said the safety measures followed by the general public and the government’s interventions including the enforcement of “smart lockdowns” has helped control the Covid-19 virus in June.

Sindh has been the worst-affected province as of June 29, with total positive cases from the province reported at 81,955, followed by Punjab with 74,778, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25,778, Islamabad Capital Territory 12,643 and Balochistan 10,376. 

Meanwhile, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan provinces have each reported 1,049 and 1,442 cases respectively. 

First reported in the Wuhan city of China, the virus has now spread to every country around the world. 

As of June 29, there are around 10 million cases of Covid-19 reported worldwide with nearly 500,000 deaths. The World Health Organization Covid-19 dashboard shows that region-wise, Americas have been the worst hit continent in the world, with nearly half of the world’s total — 5.04m cases — reported from there. 

Europe is the second-worst hit continent in the world, with 2.65m cases, eastern Meditterenean 1.041m, South-East Asia 760,037 thousand, Africa 288,347 and western Pacific 214,106.

Countries around the world have had to launch extreme measures to contain the virus ranging from lockdowns to ground flights and keeping people at home through army-led curfews.