ISLAMABAD: The country reported the lowest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day since June 28.

According to data of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 767 people contracted coronavirus and 19 patients died during the last 24 hours.

The highest number of cases during the last over three months was reported on Aug 4 when 5,661 people got infected and 60 succumbed to the virus.

A total of 40,584 samples were collected across the country during the last 24 hours with the positivity ratio calculated at 1.88 per cent.

Earlier, infection rate of 1.7pc was reported on June 21 while the maximum ratio was recorded at 9.06pc on Aug 4.

The data further revealed that the number of positive patients had also dropped by 50pc as there were 90,000 cases in August which had come down to around 43,000.

Moreover, 2,540 patients were under treatment in hospitals across the country compared to 7,000 in August this year.

Meanwhile, as the Mental Health Day was observed across the globe on Sunday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said the government was focusing on the issue.

“It is crucial to recognise and be sensitive towards mental health problems, which have exacerbated during the pandemic. Earlier this year, we formed the National Task Force on Mental Health to work on strengthening regulation and expanding access to care #WordlMentalHealthDay,” Dr Sultan tweeted.

The World Mental Health Day is observed on Oct 10 every year and theme for the day was ‘Mental health in an unequal world’. The overall objective of the day was to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilise efforts in support of mental health.

The day provided an opportunity to all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needed to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

Talking to Dawn, National Technical Adviser Mental Health Coordination Unit of Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Dr Asma Humayun said resources for mental health in Pakistan were not only scarce, but largely unregulated.

“Existing services are concentrated in tertiary hospitals, and the predominant model of practice is bio-medical which means these services are responsive to moderate to severe mental disorders only,” Dr Humayun said, adding that the existing services were greatly compromised by the added strain of Covid-19 pandemic.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2021