Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 1,520,120 on Wednesday after 493 new cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall 572,555 cases were confirmed in Sindh, 504,045 in Punjab, 218,357 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 35,447 in Balochistan, 134,878 in Islamabad, 11,648 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 43,190 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, 34,698 tests were conducted in last 24 hours while positivity ratio remained 1.42%.
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 30,317 with 4 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 1,472,291 after another 398 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, said on Wednesday that the government was lifting all COVID-19 related restrictions across the country as Pakistan "has come close to eliminating the pandemic".
"We have decided that all restrictions we have imposed related to the coronavirus on weddings, indoor dining and markets, we are ending all of them," the minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
He, however, added that all restrictions on those not vaccinated against the coronavirus would remain.
Asad Umar said that the government would keep monitoring the disease prevalence on a daily basis.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 462,069 million and death toll tops 6,073,844.