ISLAMABAD: The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country hit the 600,198 mark on Friday as 2,701 new cases were reported over the last 24 hours, says the government portal tracking spread of the disease.

The portal reported recovery of 1,573 patients over the last 24 hours with a total of 568,065 patients recovering and another 13,431 dying from the disease since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country last year.

Over the last 24 hours most deaths were reported in Punjab followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as out of the total 54 deaths, 15 patients died on ventilators while 36 also died in hospitals and three out of the hospital.

Punjab reported 1,632 new cases and 36 deaths, Islamabad 384 new cases and four deaths, KP 330 new cases and nine deaths, Sindh 255 new cases and four deaths, AJK 86 new cases and one death while Balochistan reported 14 new cases on Friday.

The countrywide breakdown of the cases and the death toll was as follows: In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 330 new cases were reported on Friday taking the total number of cases to 75,052 with 2,138 deaths. In Balochistan the total number of cases was 19,171 with 202 deaths. In Punjab, 1632 new cases were reported with a total of 182,576 cases and 5,698 deaths.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr Faisal Sultan on Friday said that effective measures were being taken to stop the spread of the deadly virus across the country.

Dr Faisal appealed to the masses to strictly adhere to Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) to effectively counter the disease in the country.

He asked the people to wear mask, maintain social distance, wash hands with soap frequently and avoid crowded places.

He also asked the provincial and district governments to enforce necessary preventing measures at public places and encourage the people to protect themselves and others from the virus by adhering to SoPs.

Dr Faisal also presided over a meeting of the government’s health programme.

Speaking on the occasion, he said the government was working for expansion of the universal health coverage (UHC) by investing in health systems, especially in the Primary Health Care (PHC).

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2021