Pakistan records lowest single-day COVID-19 cases

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan on Tuesday reported slightly over 1,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus -- the lowest daily figure in the last three months, official statistics showed.

With 1,013 new cases reported over the past 24 hours, the total number of infections reached 266,096, with 1,481 of them in critical condition, according to the Health Ministry data.

This is the lowest daily figure of confirmed cases since May 14 when the country reported only 490 cases.

Following a gradual decline in the number of fatalities, some 40 patients died due to the disease across the country, raising the death toll to 5,639. Nearly 70% of patients, or 208,030, have recovered so far.

Health experts, however, cautioned that a sharp fall in the number of COVID-19 cases could be the result of fewer tests.

Neighboring India, the hardest hit by the virus in the region, is currently conducting 15 times more daily tests than Pakistan, which conducted only 17,783 over the past 24 in a marked fall from the over 32,000 daily tests it carried out last month.

The country is currently following a strategy of locality-based lockdown in scores of hotspots across some 20 large cities in an attempt to stem the virus's spread.

According to official statistics, the country has so far done over 1.75 million tests for the virus.

The global pandemic claimed nearly 610,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since it has originated in China last December.

The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.

More than 14.7 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 8.2 million, according to data compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.