Tourists barred from entering Gilgit Baltistan without Covid-negative report

GILGIT: Amid rising COVID-19 cases in the country, tourists visiting Gilgit Baltistan have been directed to carry a Covid-negative report while entering the federally administered area, ARY NEWS reported.

According to a notification issued today and carried by the state television, the decision was made by the Gilgit Baltistan authorities while keeping in view the prevailing situation which saw a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The tourists will only be allowed to enter the Gilgit Baltistan region if they will be carrying a COVID-negative report, the notification said.

It is pertinent to mention here that coronavirus has claimed 42 more lives in Pakistan during the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 13,799 on Saturday.

The latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) showed the COVID-19 has claimed 42 more lives and 3,876 fresh infections were reported during the period.

The total count of active cases is 29,576. The positivity ratio was recorded at 9.46 percent during the past day.

A total of 40,946 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Since the detection of the first COVID-19 case in the country, overall 9,732,033 tests have been conducted so far.

2,122 patients are in critical condition across the country, whereas, 1,446 people recovered from the deadly disease during the last 24 hours. Overall 579,760 have regained their health from the COVID-19

Sindh remains top on the list with 262,796 cases reported in the province so far, followed by Punjab with 195,087 COVID cases so far.

78,653 cases have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 50,843 in Islamabad, 19,306 cases in Balochistan, 11,483 infections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,967 cases have been detected in Gilgit Baltistan.