Pakistan's COVID-19 tally surges on second day of Ramzan

As many as 700 new cases of COVID-19 and around 12 virus-related deaths were reported in Pakistan on Sunday as the country entered the second day of Ramzan.

In the last 24 hours, the number of cases in the country reached 13,318 with Punjab leading the tally with 5,446 cases, which is the highest among all provinces, Geo News reported.

Sindh, on the other hand, has recorded 4,615 cases so far. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has 1,864 cases and Balochistan's count is 781. Several other regions have also seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

Implementing the lockdown is proving to be a challenge for Islamabad as several clerics in the country have urged people to ignore anti-pandemic measures amid the Islamic holy month of fasting.

Earlier on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom had warned that if Pakistan did not take sufficient "preventive interventions", the number of coronavirus cases in the country can surge to 200,000 by mid-July.

"Pakistan's COVID-19 response plan is a joint strategy of the Government of Pakistan, the UN and partners. It is aligned with the Global Goals of UN, Pakistan's National Action Plan and WHO's global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan," Dr Tedros was quoted as saying.

( With inputs from ANI )