ISLAMABAD: Death toll by Coronavirus epidemic reached to 63 fatalities around the country as new deaths were reported in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The tally of confirmed COVID-19 infections jumped to 4,339 Thursday after new infections were confirmed from all over Pakistan.
After confirmed infections are increasing rapidly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, nation-wide coronavirus tally shot up from 4,072 on Wednesday morning to 4,339 on Thursday morning.
The province-wise break up of coronavirus infections given by the National Health Authorities Coronavirus dashboard at 09:50am, April 9 Thursday, is as total number of confirmed infections was 4,339, with Punjab having toll 2,188, Sindh 1,036, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 560, Gilgit-Baltistan 213, Balochistan 212, Islamabad Capital Territory 102 and AJK 28.
According to province-wise break up the death toll jumped to 54 confirmed by National Health authorities at 09:50am, April 9, Thursday, with Sindh 20, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 20, Punjab 17, Gilgit-Baltistan 3, Islamabad Capital Territory 1 and Balochistan 2.
Meanwhile, Federal Government under Ehsaas Program is starting distribution of coronavirus relief fund to families affected by the coronavirus lockdown.
According to Dr Sania Nishtar, who is in charge of the programme, 12 million families will get Rs12,000 each under the initiative. A budget of Rs144 billion was approved for the plan, said Dr Nishtar.
The families will be given Rs12,000 cash after biometric verification through 18,065 sale points or retail shops of Habib Bank Limited and Bank Al-Falah across the country.
Pakistan will re-seal its border with Afghanistan from today after opening it earlier this week to let Afghan nationals return home.
According to the DPO, 1,000 Afghan nationals have crossed the border daily.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Health Dr Zafar Mirza has announced that last week he had established the DRAP Expert Committee on ventilators to test the locally manufactured medical equipment.
At a great speed they have already produced “Fast Track Acceptance Test Procedure for Locally Developed Mechanical Ventilators for COVID-19”.
Chairperson Child Protection Bureau Sarah Ahmed has said the department is working towards protecting street children in the country from contracting COVID-19.
“We are making the street children aware of the dangers of the virus,” Ahmed told media. “We have started working on a warning operation to make sure these children stay at home.”
If these children are unprotected and contract the virus, it would be dangerous for others as well, she said. “If they don’t heed the advice given by us, the police will take action,” she added.
Adviser to Sindh chief minister Murtaza Wahab has said, the provincial government has distributed ration bags to 250,000 families in the province.
“Federal government is giving controversial remarks regarding the lockdown,” Wahab said. “It would have been beneficial to have the same lockdown strategy throughout the country.”
Read more: Coronavirus death toll reaches 55 while confirmed cases jumps to 4,072
