Pakistan records lowest daily death toll from COVID-19

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan recorded 24 deaths from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day toll from virus in the last three months, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

With new fatalities, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 reached 5,787, according to the data.

Another 1,487 fresh infections were reported across the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 271,886.

Over 70% of all patients, or 236,596, have recovered so far.

Pakistan's infection rate has also significantly dropped over the past few weeks, compared to an average 5,000 cases per day in May and June.

The highest number of single-day cases was nearly 7,000 last month.

Health experts, however, cautioned that a sharp fall in the number of COVID-19 cases could be the result of fewer tests. India, the hardest-hit country by the virus in the region, is currently conducting 15 times more tests daily than Pakistan.

The capital Islamabad is currently following a strategy of locality-based lockdown in scores of hotspots across some 20 big cities in an attempt to stem the virus’s spread.

According to official statistics, the country has so far conducted over 1.8 million tests for the disease.