Pakistan sees the highest single-day spike in corona cases

islamabad — Pakistan registered its highest single day increase in the coronavirus cases with 1,297 new infections, taking the total number to 18,770, officials said on Saturday.

The death toll due to the viral infection jumped to 432 with 32 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of National Health Services said.

As many as

4,715 patients have recovered, it said.

A record number of 1,297 new Covid-19 patients were added in a single day on Friday, the ministry said.

Officials, however, said the spike in the Covid-19 cases is not surprising as it is due to the increase in the coronavirus testing.

As many as 193,859 tests have been conducted so far, including 9,164 in the last 24 hours, they said. Of the total 18,114 cases, Punjab registered the highest number of 6,854, followed by Sindh at 7,102, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 2,799, Balochistan 1,136, Islamabad 365, GilgitBaltistan 340 and AJK at 66.

Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Karachi jumped by 446, taking the total to 4,873 — over a quarter of the country’s total of 18,662, while Sindh province remained the worst-hit with 7,102 infections. Covid-19 cases have risen almost 200 per cent in Karachi

over the last 11 days, from 1,691 on April 20 to 4,873 on May 1, reported.

According to a statement issued by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s office on Friday, 3,384 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the province during the past 24 hours out of which 622 had come back positive, taking the provincial

total to 7,102; this means that nearly 20 per cent of the tests conducted came back positive. In the statement, Shah said that six more deaths had been reported in Sindh during the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 118.

Shah said that 57,761 tests have been conducted in the province. —