Pakistan records 869 new coronavirus cases, tally rises to 8,348

Pakistan on Sunday reported 869 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of the COVID-19 patients to 8,348 in the country, officials said.

According to officials, the worst-hit Punjab province reported 3,822 patients, Sindh 2,537, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,137, Balochistan 376, Gilgit-Baltistan 257, Islamabad 171 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 48, taking the total tally to 8,348.

With nine fatalities on Sunday, the death toll from the deadly disease has reached 168. Sindh province recorded its highest number of eight deaths in a single day, they said.

Pakistan has conducted 98,522 tests, including 7,847 during the last 24 hours. So far 1,868 patients have recovered.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is struggling to contain the spread of coronavirus in Pakistan, on Sunday alleged that Muslims are being targeted in India to "divert the backlash" over the government's COVID-19 policy.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chief Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal said they would distribute 100,000 testing kits amongst all the provinces by Monday to further increase testing ratio. He said 50 laboratories were working across the country and conducing over 6,000 tests regularly.

To boost the testing facilities in the country, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has allowed 333 more pharmaceutical companies to manufacture sanitisers, according to an official statement.

So far, the DRAP had allowed 481 companies to produce sanitisers.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that Pakistan could now produce its own masks and personal protective equipment and is able to export sanitisers. He added that local testing kits and ventilators were in the final stage of trials.

The Pakistani nation should be proud of the efforts of its organisations and professionals during the ongoing pandemic, he said.

Meanwhile, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said that the Railways would set up a special quarantine train comprising of 30 coaches in Balochistan.

According to authorities, Pakistan would also allow some foreign airlines to bring back about 40,000 Pakistani nationals stranded abroad.

Those stranded in the US should go to Doha by Qatar Airways and Pakistan government was making special arrangements to fly them home, said Zulfi Bukhari, the prime minister's advisor on Overseas Pakistanis,.

Globally, more than 160,000 people have died and over 2.3 million people have been infected by the coronavirus, according to data maintained by Johns Hopkins University.