LIVE: Pakistan's death toll nears 4,000 as COVID-19 tally soars to 195,745.

MUZAFFARABAD -- The novel coronavirus emerged in the central China city of Wuhan towards the end of last year and proliferated to almost the whole world within a couple of months. It's not the virulence or fatality, but the infectivity of the new virus - also known as SARS-CoV-2 - that has set off a global frenzy.

The Covid-19 respiratory illness caused By: this mysterious contagion has so far infected more than 9.1 million people in 202 countries and territories of the world - and over 472,000 of them have died and counting.

Pakistan, despite its close proximity with China, remained coronavirus-free until February 26 when a young man from Karachi tested positive after returning from Iran - one of the worst-hit countries. After a brief hiatus following the first case, Covid-19 cases spiked as more pilgrims returning from Iran tested positive for the virus.

Nearly one-and-a-half months after imposing the lockdown across the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced to ease the lockdown in phases.

The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients stands at 195,745 with 71,987 cases in Punjab, 75,168 in Sindh, 24,303 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 9,946 in Balochistan, 1,398 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 11,981 in Islamabad and 962 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The virus has claimed at least 3,962 lives while around 84,168 coronavirus patients have recovered.

The situation remains fluid and we're updating stats as soon as new figures are officially released.

Follow The Express Tribune's live coverage of the pandemic here.

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9:40am: 'Pakistan fighting Covid-19 through robust national response'

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza said Pakistan is fighting Covid-19 through a robust and coordinated national response.

Speaking to the Regional Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Ahmed Mandhari via video link, the special assistant said Pakistan has implemented a smart lockdown because the premier is cognizant of the financial suffering of around 25 per cent of the population living below the poverty line.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Pakistan's response to the contagion and to...