Coronavirus: 334 new cases reported in Pakistan, death toll reaches 93

Pakistan's coronavirus cases have reached 5,374 with 334 new infections reported, while seven more people have died due to the disease, taking the death toll in the country to 93, health officials said on Monday.

The Ministry of National Health Services reported that 1,095 people had recovered fully, but 44 are still in critical condition. The number of coronavirus cases on Monday reached 5,374 with 334 new patients added during the last 24 hours, it said. Seven more people died during this period, taking the total toll in Pakistan to 93, it added.

According to the ministry data, Punjab has 2,594 cases, Sindh 1,411, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 744, Balochistan 230, Gilgit-Baltistan 224, Islamabad 131 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 40 patients. So far, 65,114 tests have been carried out, including 3,233 during the last 24 hours, the data showed.

A steady rise in the new cases has been registered despite more than three-week lockdown in the country which is going to end on Tuesday. Prime Minister Imran Khan is chairing a high-level meeting to decide if the nationwide lockdown should be extended. There is high possibility that it would be extended.

Advisor on Health Zafar Mirza said on Sunday that the low number of cases could spike if lockdown was lifted completely. The US on Sunday overtook Italy as the country with the highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 pandemic with the fatalities crossing 20,000. The novel coronavirus which originated from China in December has killed 114,185 people and infected over 1.8 million people globally. The US has the highest number of infections (556,044) and deaths (over 20,000), according to Johns Hopkins University data.