ISLAMABAD, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan has risen to 64,028 with 1,317 deaths, according to the data updated by the country's health ministry Friday morning.
A total of 2,636 new cases and 57 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the statistics revealed.
Overall, 40,406 patients are under treatment in hospitals while 22,305 have recovered completely, which is 34.8 percent of the total confirmed cases.
The country's southern Sindh province is the most affected region with 25,309 cases followed by eastern Punjab province with 22,964 cases.
The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province reported 8,842 cases, with 432 deaths. At least 3,928 cases have been reported in southwestern Balochistan province, 2,100 in the capital city Islamabad.
Punjab province recorded 410 deaths, followed by Sindh where 396 infected people have lost their lives, the statistics said, adding that Pakistan has conducted 520,017 tests officially so far.
The Pakistani government started to ease the lockdown from May 9, aiming at mitigating the influence of the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown on the labor class and the poor in the country.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza warned earlier this week that the standard operating procedures formed by the government to avoid the spread of the pandemic were not being strictly followed, and the government will consider whether it is necessary to reimpose strict lockdown, according to local media. Enditem
