The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients jumped to 7,434, with eight more patients losing lives on Friday. The virus has claimed 143 lives so far while at least 1,765 coronavirus patients have recovered. Out of eight new deaths reported on Friday, one was in Punjab, five in KP and two in Sindh. A total of 6,257 tests were performed on Friday, out of which 409 turned positive, with 115 in Punjab, 37 in KP, 209 in Sindh, 32 in Balochistan, two in AJK, five in GB and nine in Islamabad.
Thirty-two new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Balochistan on Friday, taking the provincial total to 346, Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said.
The first coronavirus patient admitted at the makeshift Karachi Expo Center field hospital was discharged on Friday after full recovery from the mysterious disease. The Covid-19 patient was brought at the 1,150-bed quarantine facility earlier this month and was receiving medical treatment. Volunteers and medics at the facility bid adieu to the patient amid cheers and clapping.
At least 429 Tableeghi Jamaat members in Sindh have tested positive for Covid-19 so far, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah confirmed, adding that the test results of 91 more members are awaited. He revealed that 132 of the 209 new cases reported on Friday are from Tableeghi Jamaat members, adding that members who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 are being kept in isolation to control the spread of the virus. He further said that there are some 4,692 Tableeghi Jamaat members in the province and tests of 4653 have been conducted so far. At least 68 Tableeghi Jamaat members who had been isolated in Hyderabad after testing positive for Covid-19 have recovered and left for their homes, according to police. This reduces the number of active coronavirus cases in the city to 70. Police said some 95 more Tableeghi Jamaat members are still under quarantine in different mosques of the city and will be allowed to leave after they test negative for the coronavirus.
Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Friday confirmed 115 new cases in the province, taking the provincial tally to 3,391. According to the department, 57 of the new cases are from Sargodha, 21 from Khushab, eight from Faisalabad and four from Bahawalpur. All of the new cases are of people who participated in the Raiwind congregation.
Two more cases of coronavirus have been reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, taking the toll of the region to 48. Nine patients have also been recovered in AJK thus far.
On the international front, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ business hub, has extended by one week a 24-hour curfew imposed as part of a sterilisation drive to control the spread of the new coronavirus, the government’s media office has said. The UAE has imposed a nationwide nightly curfew since March 26 for the disinfection campaign, but Dubai on April 4 expanded it within the emirate to a 24-hour lockdown for two weeks.
Iran paraded disinfection vehicles, mobile hospitals and other medical equipment to mark its national Army Day as the country’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose by 89 to 4,958. The small “Defenders of the Homeland, Helpers of Health” army parade was held at a training centre before a group of commanders in face masks to underscore the military’s role in battling the highly infections Covid-19 disease. “Due to health and social protocols, it is not possible to hold a parade of soldiers … The enemy now is hidden and doctors and nurses are (instead) at the frontlines of the battlefield,” President Hassan Rouhani said in a message to soldiers, disseminated by state media.
