Pakistan has recorded 3,097 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, marking the first time in more than three weeks that the country reported more than 3,000 daily infections.

It had last reported more than 3,000 infections on Dec 18 when 3,179 cases were confirmed across the country.

Meanwhile, the national positivity rate has risen to 7.4 per cent from 5.3pc a day earlier.

The countrywide breakdown of cases in the last 24 hours is as follows:

• Punjab: 767
• Sindh: 1,769
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 359
• Balochistan: 21
• Islamabad: 162
• Azad Jammu and Kashmir: 19

Gilgit Baltistan did not report any new cases.