6,397 new cases: Pakistan records highest single day spike of COVID-19 infections

Islamabad: Pakistan has reported 6,397 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest single-day spike, taking the total number of infections in the country to 1,25,933, the health ministry said on Friday.

The new record single-day spike was reported on a day when the Pakistan government was to present the budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year in Parliament after showing dismal negative 0.38 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the outgoing year, for which the officials have blamed the coronavirus outbreak among the main reasons.

The Ministry of National Health Services reported that 107 patients died of coronavirus during the last 24 hours.

A total of 40,247 patients have recovered from the contagious infection so far.

Punjab province has reported 47,382 patients of coronavirus, Sindh 46,828, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 15,787, Balochistan 7,673, Islamabad 6,699, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,030 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir reported 534 cases till now, the health ministry said.

"A total of 809,169 tests has been conducted so far, including a record 28,344 in the last 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.

Though the government would present the Budget in Parliament on Thursday, the attendance is expected to be low as several of them have been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection, including opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif.

Advisor on economic affairs Dr Abdul Hafeed Shaikh, while launching the Economic Survey on Thursday, said that Pakistan's economy suffered more than Rs 3 trillion losses due to the coronavirus.