Senior Pak official warns of increase in COVID-19 cases; nationwide tally crosses 52,000

Islamabad, May 23: The number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan would continue to multiply if people did not follow the precautions to keep the virus at bay, a senior government official has warned as the nationwide tally of the infections crossed 52,000 with 1,101 deaths.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Health Zafar Mirza on Friday said that the last week's virus tracking reports were not good and the infection would continue to multiply if precautions are not taken.

"If people do not follow precautions, the number of cases can increase even more," he said.

The Ministry of National Health Services reported that out of the 52,437 infections, 20,883 were detected in Sindh, 18,730 in Punjab, 7,391 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 3,198 in Balochistan, 1,457 in Islamabad, 607 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 171 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

A total of 1,743 new COVID-19 patients were reported during the last 24 hours.

So far, 16,653 patients have recovered from the virus, while 1,101 people have died, including 34 in the last 24 hours.

The authorities have so far conducted 460,692 tests across the country, including 14,705 in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, opposition leader and Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif tested negative for the coronavirus.

He along with some other leaders underwent the tests after a fellow member of the party tested positive for the disease, PML-N's Rana Mashhood said.