Coronavirus infects 1,209 Pakistanis in last 24 hours

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported 1,209 new novel coronavirus cases in last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally of cases to 266,925, ARY News reported.

According to the latest figures released by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 54 deaths were also reported due to virus in last 24 hours. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 5,763.

Pakistan has so far conducted 1,821,296 coronavirus tests and 22,006 in last 24 hours. 219,783 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 1,316 patients are still in critical condition.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

Till now 115,2883 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 91,423 in Punjab, 32,898 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,523 in Balochistan, 14,766 in Islamabad 1,918 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 1,989 in Azad Kashmir.

Political leadership, community engagement vital for COVID-19 response: WHO chief

World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted that political leadership and community engagement are the two vital pillars of the response to COVID-19.

Talking during a virtual press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that although all countries have been affected, intense transmission has been seen in a relatively small group of countries.

He said almost 10 million cases, or two-thirds of all cases globally, are from 10 countries, and almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries.

According to WHO, the three countries that were hit the hardest by the COVID-19 are the United States, Brazil and India.