ISLAMABAD: The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients jumped to 28,744, with 10,471 cases reported in Punjab, 10,771 in Sindh, 4,509 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,935 in Balochistan, 421 in Gilgit Baltistan, 609 in Islamabad and 87 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus has claimed at least 636 lives while some 7,756 coronavirus patients have recovered so far.

Sindh recorded 1,080 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours – the highest in a single day according to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. This brings the total number of infections in the province to 10,771. He also reported four more deaths from the virus in the province, taking the total number of fatalities to 180.

In his regular video message on the coronavirus situation in the province, Murad Ali Shah said that 246 of the 1,080 new cases belong to Khairpur’s Pirjo Goth. “A total of 251 cases were conducted in Pirjo Goth on Friday, and 246 of them came out positive,” he added. He said there are 277 confirmed coronavirus cases in Pirjo Goth thus far. He said that 583 of the 1080 new cases belong to Karachi, among which 143 have been reported from South district, 113 from East district, 71 from Central district, 133 from Malir District and 61 from Korangi district.

Speaking about the patients under treatment, the chief minister said of 8,571, as many as 7,432 are isolated at their homes, 609 at isolation centres and 503 at hospitals, adding that 101 among them, including 23 on ventilator, are in a critical condition.

A 70-year-old woman died of coronavirus at the isolation ward of Hyderabad’s Liaquat University Hospital (LUH), taking the total number of Covid-19 deaths in the city to eight. The total number of patients being treated until last night in LUH was 47. They were from Hyderabad and other districts.

Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department reported 438 new coronavirus cases, taking the provincial total to 10,471. It also reported eight more fatalities, an increase over Friday’s one death. The total number of fatalities in the province has risen to 191. The department also reported 4,131 recoveries while 41 people are in critical condition. A total of 121,194 tests have been conducted in the province thus far.

At least 182 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the provincial tally to 4,509, according to the KP health department. The province’s death toll from the virus rose to 234 with 13 new deaths reported – seven in Peshawar and one each in Charsadda, Khyber, Mardan, Swat, Malakand and Abbottabad.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Saturday confirmed that five of its employees have been tested positive of coronavirus. The airlines’ General Manager (Medical Services) has confirmed that five staff members of PIA’s Quetta station have been tested positive of the virus. Tests of 22 employees at Quetta station conducted and five of them including a woman staffer were found infected by coronavirus, the official said. “All infected staff members have been sent to quarantine,” he added.

Another doctor at Ayub Medical Complex was diagnosed with coronavirus, increasing the number of infected doctors at the hospital to five on Saturday.

Dr Ijaz Hussain, who has been posted at children’s ward in Ayub Medical Complex, has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Some 58 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Balochistan, according to provincial government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani. Due to a discrepancy in official data, the total number of infections in Balochistan now stands at 1,935. Twenty-four people have so far died in the province.

Shahwani said that 30 per cent of coronavirus tests conducted in the province on Friday came back positive. Speaking to the media in Quetta, Shahwani said it is an increase over Thursday’s results when 21pc of tests came back positive. “We have also been doing random testing of which some 18 to 20pc results are coming back positive. In the next phase, we will conduct aggressive testing so we can have an idea of the trajectory of cases in the province,” he added.

Shahwani said that the fatality rate in the province has been 1.5 per cent for the past couple of weeks. “The fatality rate is only 1.5 per cent, this average is same for the last few weeks. The recovery rate was 55pc then reduced to 15pc now it’s 13.8, it’s a little less than before,” he added.