Pakistan records 2,208 cases, 37 deaths in 24 hours: NCOC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported fresh 2,208 COVID-19 cases and 37 deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 363,380, whereas, the active cases stood at 30,362.

In the past 24 hours, 37 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 7,193.

A total of 38,544 tests were conducted across the country during this period. 325,788 people have recovered from the deadly disease while 5,018,483 samples have been tested thus far.

Read: PM Imran announces to ban public meetings amid second wave of COVID-19

Earlier on Tuesday, amidst rising coronavirus cases, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government had decided to impose a complete lockdown across the region for a fortnight starting November 21.

The decision came during a meeting of the AJK cabinet that had met with Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider in the chair. The meeting had been briefed that the coronavirus situation in the valley has worsened as Covid-19 positivity rate has gone up to 19 per cent.

There would be a complete lockdown in all AJK districts with a ban on weddings and other gatherings. All schools and businesses will remain shut during the lockdown. Strict screening at the entry points of the region would be ensured. Besides, the number of employees in government offices will be cut in half as only 50% of them would be allowed to come to offices while the rest would work from home.

Read: Balochistan witnesses rise in coronavirus cases up to 6.2 pc

In KP, the government had formed a cabinet coordination committee yesterday to apprise opposition leaders about rising Covid-19 infections in the province.

The KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had formed a five-member committee to convince the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to postpone its Peshawar rally owing to the second wave of coronavirus.

The members of the committee are Akbar Yakoob, Shaukat Yousufzai, Sultan Mehmood, KP Health Minister Taimoor Jhagra and Information adviser Kamran Bangash.

The committee had invited opposition parliamentary leaders to the Assembly Secretariat at 4 p.m on Wednesday (today) where it will convince leaders of opposition parties to postpone rallies due to rise in Covid cases.