Pakistan registers 1,446 new coronavirus cases; total count crosses 59,000-mark

Islamabad: Pakistan registered 1,446 new coronavirus infections during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 59,151, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The death toll reached 1,225 with 28 more patients succumbing to the disease, it said.

Sindh reported the maximum number of 23,507 cases, followed by 21,118 in Punjab, 8,259 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 3,536 in Balochistan, 1,879 in Islamabad, 638 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 214 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The authorities have so far conducted 499,399 coronavirus tests, including 8,491 in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

As many as 19,412 patients have recovered so far, it said.

Though officials have repeatedly claimed that Pakistan has the capacity to conduct about 30,000 tests per day, the feat is yet to be achieved.

In the last two days, less than 10,000 tests have been conducted.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chief Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal has said that there was no dearth of ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Pakistan.

Addressing media on Monday, Afzal asserted that the coronavirus situation is "under control".

He said there are 4,200 ventilators available in public and private hospitals 500 in military hospitals.

Afzal said only 128 patients are on ventilators across the country.