Pakistan shows falling trend in COVID-19 cases

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan recorded 1,118 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, showing a falling trend in the ongoing third wave of the pandemic, the country’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

This is the lowest single-day tally since Feb. 22, when the country recorded 1,050 COVID-19 cases.

With the new infections, the South Asian country's total caseload reached 936,131 with 869,691 recoveries.

Another 77 people lost their lives due to the virus, pushing the toll to 21,453 since March 2020.

The total active cases in the country are 44,987.

Pakistan has shown a significant decline in coronavirus cases, with the positivity rate dropping to 2.9% from over 10% until a few weeks ago.

The government earlier this week lifted several lockdown restrictions, allowing schools, beaches, restaurants, and hair salons to reopen.

A two-hour relaxation in business hours has also been announced.

So far, out of a population of 207 million, nearly 10 million people have been inoculated.

The government plans to inoculate 70 million people by the end of this year.