National tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases crosses 8,400

Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Monday rose to 8,425.

At least 3, 721 cases reported in Punjab, 2,544 in Sindh, 1,235 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 432 in Balochistan, 263 in Gilgit Baltistan, 181 in Islamabad, and 49 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the National Command and Control Centre, the death toll related to COVID-19 has reached 176, while at least 1,970 patients have fully recovered.

The number of coronavirus cases has continued to soar despite the country being under a lockdown from the last month. The nation-wide lockdown has now been extended by two more weeks, till April 30.

However, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said the industries that are being opened include export sector, chemical manufacturing plants, e-commerce, software development and planning, paper and packaging units, industries with labor on site, cement and fertilizer plants, mines and minerals, plant nurseries, agricultural machinery plants, glass manufacturing plants, veterinary services and bookshops.

The agriculture sector will also remain open due to upcoming harvesting of wheat.

The worldwide number of officially confirmed fatalities from the novel coronavirus now stands above 165,000.

More than 2.40 million declared cases have been registered in 200 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these cases, more than 500,000 are now considered recovered.