Web Desk:
The novel coronavirus cases have reached 20,725 across the country on Monday. Most of the cases have been reported from Punjab and Sindh provinces of the country. The virus has caused 471 deaths in the country. However, 5,590 patients have recovered from the disease so far.
As per the statistics by health officials in all four provinces and the federal capital, Punjab has confirmed 7,646 cases, Sindh, 7882, Balochistan 1,218, KP, 3,129, Islamabad 393, GB 356 and AJK 67 cases.
Asad Umar, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development
Addressing the media at the National Command and Operation Centre in Islamabad, Umar compared Pakistan’s death rates to the fatality rates of other countries. “The coronavirus has caused 58 per cent more deaths in the United States, 207pc more in Spain and 124pc more in the United Kingdom as compared to Pakistan in the same period.”
Referring to the foreign media’s focus on the concept of “flattening the curve”, Umar explained that countries worldwide were “not focusing on eliminating the virus but on controlling it”. He added that even they realised that the actions needed to eliminate the virus would be “too strict for the people to bear”.
Coming to Pakistan’s situation, Umar said that the country was reporting 24 deaths daily on average for the past few weeks and if this was extended to a month, it amounted to nearly 720 deaths per month. “Comparatively some 4,000 people die in traffic accidents across the country each month. But we still allow traffic because it’s necessary.
