LAHORE : Pakistan on Tuesday has reported 54 deaths from novel coronavirus while the total number of cases has surged to 3918.

According to details, 1918 patients have been tested positive for the epidemic in Punjab, 932 in Sindh, 500 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 211 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 202 in Balochistan, 83 in Islamabad and 18 in Azad Kashmir.

So far, 429 patients have recovered in the country while 28 are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, two more doctors have lost their lives due to the virus. MS of Al-Khidmat Hospital in Karachi, Abdul Qadir Soomro and Dr Zeeshan Haider in London have died while treating the coornavirus patients.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza has assured provision of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits to all medical practitioners working against coronavirus (COVID-19) at hospitals.

All doctors are our frontline heroes and a forward force in fight against coronavirus, he stated.

He condemned the incident that happened with the young doctors and expressed his solidarity with them. The protection of doctors and nursing staff was the top priority of the government,

Special Assistant to the Prime Minster on Youth Affairs Usman Dar updated Prime Minister Imran Khan on volunteers who have so far joined Corona Relief Tiger Force for relief activities during the lockdown.

On the prime minister’s directive, the live update of the Tiger Force has also been made public and linked with the government’s official portal of Covid-19. Now the people can view the live update of the force at http://crt.covid.gov.pk.

Usman Dar told the prime minister that majority of those, who had registered for the volunteers’ force, are students and social workers, besides doctors, political workers, engineers, teachers, lawyers, journalists, retired armed forces officers and people from the corporate sector have also participated in the initiative.

In an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, the National Coordination Committee (NCC) has decided to extend the countrywide lockdown till April 14.

 

Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar informed that goods transport carrying food will remain open, while medicines will be available for the general public in all four provinces of the country.