Decline in coronavirus positive cases for fifth day as nationwide tally hits 169,000.

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Friday said there was a consecutive fifth day decline in positive cases ratio after witnessing rise in number of positive cases for three weeks.

The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients jumped to 168,664 on Friday, with 61,678 cases reported in Punjab, 65,163 in Sindh, 20,790 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9,162 in Balochistan, 1,225 in Gilgit Baltistan, 9,941 in Islamabad and 769 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus has claimed at least 3,295 lives while around 61,383 coronavirus patients have recovered.

According to the NCOC, around 103 more ventilators have been added to national count, which raises total number of ventilators to 1,503 in the country. In order to meet additional requirements of hospitals, procurement of additional ventilators on fast track basis is in progress and will be completed between mid to end of July, adding that more than 1500 ventilators to the existing number.

On Friday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial lawmaker from Jhang Rana Shahbaz tested positive for coronavirus. Shahbaz has quarantined himself at his home after testing positive.

Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who tested positive for coronavirus on June 8, is recovering fast from the disease and will be discharged from the hospital in a couple of days. Sheikh Rashid was shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalpindi as a precautionary measure on Saturday on his doctor's advice as he was feeling unwell. According to reports, he is recovering fast and is likely to be shifted to his house in two days.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah Friday said that as many as 49 more people have lost their lives due to Covid-19 during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,013 in the province. In his daily briefing, the chief minister said that 2,894 new cases of coronavirus have been detected through 13,662 tests. He maintained that Sindh's tally of coronavirus...