Covid-19: Pakistan's daily-cases tally falls below 4,000 after over a week

Karachi: After reporting more than 4,000 daily coronavirus cases for over a week, Pakistan has seen a slight decrease after 3,582 people tested positive during the last 24 hours.

On July 26, the country reported 3,262 new cases, however, since then it has continued to witness a surge with the daily tally going over 5,000.

However, during the last 24 hours, Pakistan saw a slight decrease in the tally with the positivity ratio also coming down. During the last 24 hours, 49,798 tests were conducted across the country, with the positivity rate being recorded at 7.19%.

So far, 16,158,330 tests have been conducted in Pakistan out of which 1,043,277 were confirmed to be Covid-19 positive.

Overall, Sindh has reported the highest number of cases at 387,261, Punjab (358,387), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (145,306), Islamabad (88,344), Balochistan (30,627), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (25,034) and Gilgit-Baltistan (8,318)

Sindh vaccinates 211,911 people in 24 hours: Murtaza Wahab

Meanwhile, 67 more people succumbed to the novel virus during the last 24 hours. The country's death toll has increased to 23,529. The total number of recoveries jumped to 944,375 after 1,355 people recovered in 24 hours.

Overall, there are 3,398 critical and 75,373 active Covid-19 cases in Pakistan.

With the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to reimpose stricter Covid-19 restrictions for several major cities to control the rising number of cases in the country.

As per the NCOC, indoor dining has been banned, while outdoor dining still remains open. However, outdoor dining will also end at 10pm. Takeaway and home-delivery services from restaurants will be allowed 24 hours a day.

NCOC imposes stricter restrictions in major cities as Covid cases rise

Explaining the rationale for restrictions on indoor dining, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said, "Our administration was also saying that it was not possible to go and check every restaurant whether only vaccinated people were being allowed; that is why indoor dining is being banned."

All commercial activities to stop by 8pm instead of 10pm, while markets and shops will remain closed twice a week.

Public transport, as well as public and private offices, will operate on 50% capacity. Weddings with a maximum of 400 vaccinated guests will be allowed, while there will be a ban on processions and gatherings.

The revised restrictions will continue from August 3 (Tuesday) till August 31 in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Karachi, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Gilgit and Skardu.