The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 9,739 on Tuesday after new infections were confirmed in the country.
The province-wise break up of the total number of cases as of 12:20am, April 22, is as follows:
Total confirmed cases: 9,739
• Sindh: 3,053
• Punjab: 4,328
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 1,345
• Balochistan: 495
• Islamabad Capital Territory: 185
• Gilgit-Baltistan: 283
• AJK: 50
Deaths: 209
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 80
• Sindh: 66
• Balochistan: 6
• Gilgit-Baltistan: 3
• Punjab: 51
• Islamabad Capital Territory: 3
Officials have recorded more than 2.5 million cases and more than 169,000 deaths since the virus emerged in China in December.
Disclaimer: There may be some discrepancy in the number of confirmed cases reported at the country level due to differences in figures quoted by federal and provincial authorities.
Geo News is constantly gathering fresh information from concerned authorities and striving to keep our readers up to date with the most accurate information available.
Orange: General updates coming in from Pakistan
Red: Reports on new cases in Pakistan
Maroon: Reports on new deaths in Pakistan
Green: Reports on recovered patients in Pakistan
Live updates for April 22 to continue here.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has reported two more deaths in the province from the virus. The grim total now stands at 51.
The total number of infected now number 4,328. So far, 724 have recovered.
According to Buzdar, 63,395 tests have so far been conducted in the province.
The government's chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that the prime minister will be tested for the coronavirus tomorrow.
"Samples for his test will be collected from the Prime Minister Office tomorrow," she said.
Awan said that the premier's office is disinfected daily while the PM Office is thoroughly disinfected as a whole every other day.
"There are meetings held there all the time so we are particular about disinfecting the premises," she said.
She said that the prime minister and his family had previously been tested and were cleared.
"Who else was [possibly] affected following Faisal Edhi's visit remains to be determined and for which everyone must be tested," said Awan.
"Faisal Edhi did not have a lengthy conversation with the prime minister. He only handed over a cheque," she added.
According to Murtaza Wahab, the adviser to the Sindh chief minister on law, a patient from Karachi who had tested positive on March 15 was discharged after a week and remained in isolation for 34 days.
He tested negative after 34 days, said Wahab, adding: "Please isolate and help us help you".
The Sindh health department spokesperson has cautioned against acting irresponsibly, saying that the spread of the virus "will get very difficult to contain".
Her warning has come as Karachi is 85 cases away from hitting 2,000.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health minister Taimur Khan Jhagra has reported six new deaths in the province, taking the grim total to 80.
The tally of infected has also risen 10 1,345 with 69 new cases.
So far, there have been 33 recoveries in the province.
The OPEC alliance of oil producers have said "several" ministers from member states, and some of its allies in the OPEC+ grouping, have held a teleconference to discuss plunging global oil prices.
The organisation tweeted that ministers held an "informal teleconference to brainstorm the current dramatic oil market situation" but it was not clear whether major producers such as Russia and Saudi Arabia took part.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has announced the opening of an 80-bed hospital in Sargodha with a 10-bed high dependency unit.
He said that similar field hospitals have been established in the majority of the districts.
"Our fight against COVID-19 continues!" he wrote.
Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani has just notified everyone via Twitter that the provincial toll of infected has jumped by 30 to 495.
"The rapid rise in locally transmitted cases is worrying," he wrote.
The Gilgit-Balistan health department has reported a rise in the number of cases by two, bringing the region's total number of infected to 283.
Of these, the number of active cases is 82. A total of 198 people have so far recovered in the region.
The Punjab disaster management authority has notified four more deaths in the province from the virus, taking the provincial tally to 49.
With the increase in death toll, the grim total across the country climbed to 201.
It has also reported a rise by 60 in the number of infected patients, bringing the provincial total to 4,255.
The PIA spokesperson has said the special flights to bring back Pakistanis stranded in various countries had begun on April 4 and are ongoing.
"We have put certain restrictions on the number of passengers being flown back," he said.
Between April 11 and 18, some 1,800 people were brought back, said the spokesperson.
"There are some difficulties faced owing to the closure of many international airports."
He confirmed that six of the country's airports had been made operational to bring back more passengers from April 14-19.
The spokesperson said that beginning next week, a further 6,000 passengers will be brought back.
He listed Britain, Canada, Africa, America, Australia, Germany, South Korea as the places from where people were brought back and will continue to be.
Sixteen flights had been arranged to bring back Pakistanis in the UAE, he said.
The spokesperson said that passengers had already been brought back from Japan, China, France, Norway and Denmark.
He said that about 35,000 passengers have been counted, as per conservative estimates, who wish to come back to Pakistan.
"All passengers will be subject to a 48-hour mandatory quarantine and testing. Those who test positive will be shifted to hospitals."
He said that people in various countries must immediately contact the Pakistani embassies there if they wish to return.
A World Health Organisation vehicle carrying swabs from patients to be tested for coronavirus came under gunfire in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state and the driver was killed, the United Nations has said.
It did not say who carried out the attack in a region where fighting between the army and Arakan Army insurgents has intensified despite global calls for a ceasefire over the pandemic that killed five and caused 119 infections in Myanmar.
The driver, Pyae Sone Win Maung, had died in the state’s Minbya township on Monday, the United Nations office in Myanmar said in a Facebook post.
“The WHO colleague was driving a marked UN vehicle from Sittwe to Yangon, transporting COVID19 surveillance samples in support of the Ministry of Health and Sports,” it added.
Both Myanmar’s army and the Arakan Army denied responsibility for the attack and accused each other.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday and meet Queen Elizabeth later this week, his spokesman said, adding that the British leader is still not “formally doing government work”.
Johnson is recovering at his country residence after he was hospitalised with COVID-19. His foreign minister, Dominic Raab, is standing in for him while he recovers.
World Health Organization Pakistan chapter welcomed financial assistance from British government agency UK Aid to help the country fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
PM Imran Khan, in an address, said that the federal government is taking steps regarding the coronavirus situation in consultation with the provinces.
The prime minister said that at first the cement industry and then the construction sector was allowed to resume operations.
He said that the battle against the coronavirus pandemic is being fought by every individual and equal participation is required in this regard.
The PM said that Corona Relief Tiger Force is a voluntary force and no one will get paid for being a part of it.
According to NDMA, it has dispatched PPEs for doctors, nurses and paramedical staff treating coronavirus patients in Sindh.
About 500 people entered self-isolation at the Presidential House in the Indian capital on Tuesday after a worker’s relative tested positive for coronavirus, officials said, as the number of cases nationwide neared 18,000 despite a strict lockdown.
The alarm was raised at President Ram Nath Kovind’s residence in the centre of Delhi after the daughter-in-law of a sanitation worker living in the workers’ quarters tested positive, officials said.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 170,000 people globally, close to two thirds of them in hardest-hit Europe, according to an AFP tally Tuesday at 0935 GMT.
In total, 170,226 people have died from the virus around the world, including 106,737 in Europe. With 42,364 deaths, the United States has the highest mortality rate, followed by Italy with 24,114 fatalities and Spain´s 21,282. France has 20,265 deaths and Britain 16,509.
There are 2,483,086 recorded cases around the world, though the number of actual infections is believed to be higher since many countries are only testing the most serious cases.
CM Sindh Murad Ali Shah visited Larkana on Tuesday, where he said that the testing capacity has been increased across the province.
Shah said that a new lab for testing has been made at Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre in Karachi for coronavirus-related cases.
The CM Sindh said that there 23 cases of local transmission reported in Larkana, adding that a new lab facility will be established in the area.
Governor Sindh Imran Ismail met with All City Tajir Ittehad leader Hammad Poonawala today, where the difficulties faced by the traders’ fraternity during the lockdown in Sindh were discussed.
According to Poonawala, the meeting was successful as the traders will open their markets from Wednesday.
“The governor told us that he will ask the federal government to give permission to the CM Sindh in an hour,” he said.The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests that the novel coronavirus originated in bats in China late last year and it was not manipulated or constructed in a laboratory.
US President Donald Trump said last week that his government was trying to determine whether the virus emanated from a lab in Wuhan in central China.
IGP Punjab Shoaib Dastagir chaired a session via video link on measures against coronavirus and security situation during Ramazan.
He said that more than 70,000 police personnel will perform duties.
The IGP urged masses to follow the SOPs under the government while performing prayers.
Singapore will extend a partial lockdown until June 1 to curb a sharp rise in coronavirus infections in the city-state, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday.
The measures, which include the closures of most workplaces and schools and are called a “circuit breaker” by authorities, were initially set to run until May 4.
The city-state reported 1,111 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing total infections to 9,125, after a record daily jump of 1,426 cases on Monday.
Jinnah Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Iftikhar Ahmad said that 10 prisoners have tested negative for the coronavirus at Camp jail.
Dr Ahmad said that these prisoners were tested 14 days ago, adding that 59 were positive for the coronavirus at the jail.
He said that 48 prisoners have recovered from the disease.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi said that China has donated ventilators and PPEs worth RMB 10 million to Pakistan.
The supplies, which come as a part of Chinese assistance to Pakistan against coronavirus crisis, will be delivered through three flights.
PM Imran Khan, in a tweet, said that the there are demonstrations being held in parts of the world against lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, despite provision of various types of assistance.
The Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai shut down its ticket counter as Pakistanis complained of expensive tickets.
The enraged people also exchanged heated words with the staff at the consulate. After the counter was closed, Pakistani nationals expressed concern regarding buying of tickets to return home.
The true extent of the death toll in England and Wales from coronavirus up to April 10 was 41% higher than the daily figures from the government indicated, according to data on Tuesday that includes deaths in the community.
The Office for National Statistics said it recorded 13,121 deaths by April 10, compared with 9,288 in the government's daily toll for those who died in hospital.
Russia recorded 5,642 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 52,763, the Russian coronavirus crisis response centre said on Tuesday.
Fifty-one people with the virus died in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 456, it said.
Indonesia will ban the mass exodus tradition, locally known as 'mudik,' at the end of the Muslim fasting month in May in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus in the Southeast Asian country, President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday.
"I have taken the decision that we will ban mudik," Widodo told a cabinet meeting. "That is why the relevant preparation needs to be done."
More than 2.46 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 169,863 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
The number of people facing acute food insecurity could nearly double this year to 265 million due to the economic fallout of COVID-19, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
The impact of lost tourism revenues, falling remittances and travel and other restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic are expected to leave some 130 million people acutely hungry this year, adding to around 135 million already in that category.
"COVID-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread," said Arif Husain, chief economist and director of research, assessment and monitoring at the World Food Programme (WFP).
The Sindh High Court issued a notification for work hours during the month of Ramzan, which is set to begin from the end of April.
In the notification, the court cases will be heard from 8:30am to 1:30pm while the Friday timings will be 8:30 to 11am.
The same will be applied to lower courts.
The nationwide tally of confirmed cases rose to 9,505 after new cases were detected in Sindh.
According to Sindh government spokesperson 289 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours to take the provincial tally to 3,053.
“In the last 24 hours, 30 people have recovered from coronavirus in Sindh,” he added.
The death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 197 in the country after Sindh reported five more deaths.
According to the provincial government spokesperson the death toll from the virus in Sindh now stands at 66.
Deputy commissioner Nawabshah said that after mismanagement and violation of safety protocols during the funeral prayers of a corona-positive man, five streets were sealed.
The streets were adjacent to the area where the man lived, said the DC, adding that those who attended the funeral prayers have been quarantined.
Provincial Minister for Health Taimur Khan Jhagra said that the posting of outgoing deputy commissioner Bajaur to the health department has been cancelled.
Jhagra said that the civil services were asked for an explanation after the said official held a gathering in violation of the Section 144 imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Faisal Edhi, the incharge of the renowned charity organization, Edhi Foundation, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The son of the legendary philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi had taken a test for the novel coronavirus two days ago. Edhi had been busy with the charity work during the coronavirus crisis and currently is in Islamabad, according to his family.
Following the test results, Faisal Edhi has gone into self-isolation.
Read more here.
Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hasan Chohan met with Chairman NDMA Lt Gen Mohammad Afzal to discuss measures curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
In the meeting, the NDMA chairman gave a briefing on the measures in the entire province, particularly Rawalpindi.
The provincial minister said that in every province, protective equipment is being provided to doctors and paramedical staff.
CM Sindh Murad Ali Shah attended the National Command and Operation Centre conference via video link today. In today’s session, it was decided to form a national database regarding the coronavirus situation across the country.
The CM Sindh’s spokesperson said that the database will converge at national, provincial, divisional, and district level.
“We have tested 4,955 people after tracing them,” the provincial minister was quoted as saying by his spokesperson.This week, Italy will announce its plans for the gradual reopening from a lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus emergency that will be applied starting from May 4, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Tuesday.
The number of new COVID-19 cases dropped to 2,256 on Monday, the lowest level in well over a month, the Civil Protection Agency said. The total death toll stood at 24,114, the second highest in the world after that of the United States.
Pakistan International Airlines continued its relief flight operations to repatriate stranded Pakistanis around the world.
As per the flight schedule, PK-701 departed for London from Islamabad today, while PK-785 will leave for the same destination at 1pm.
To take back British citizens, an international flight QR-254 will reach Islamabad at 1pm, while QR-7512 will carry UK nationals from Islamabad to Doha soon.
All the PIA relief flights will come back empty from the UK.
Japanese police have reported that 11 people whose deaths were deemed to be unnatural in the past month subsequently tested positive for the new coronavirus, media said on Tuesday.
Japan, with more than 260 virus-related deaths according to public broadcaster NHK, has avoided the kind of explosive outbreak that has plagued the United States and many European nations.
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid stated that the Nishtar Hospital has been provided with adequate PPEs for the next two weeks, a day after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi complained that the city lacked adequate safety gear for doctors.
“Each doctor has been given a N-95 mask. One mask can be used for one week and each doctor will be given a new mask on every Monday,” stated the minister.
The provincial minister had arrived in Multan to overview the coronavirus situation in the city.
Dr Rashid also announced that a biosafety lab of level 3 has also been installed in Multan. She also clarified that no ventilators have been moved from Nishtar hospital to Dera Ghazi Khan.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir government briefed President Arif Alvi on the coronavirus situation in the region.
During the visit, President Alvi was briefed on the situation by AJK’s President Masood Khan and PM Raja Farooq Haider at the PM house in Muzaffarabad.
The president also handed over medical equipment for health professionals to the AJK government.
Punjab government has decided to open up departments related to the construction industry for limited hours to keep the industry a float.
The decision was taken by Punjab Chief Secretary Azam Suleman Khan to make sure that industry remains operational after it was decided to ease restrictions on it during the lockdown.
The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that it is not possible to determine the precise source of the new coronavirus at this stage.
As of now, no conclusions could be made, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
However, the available evidence suggests an animal origin, Kasai told an online press conference.
The Provincial Disaster Management Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shared that it has dispatched more protection equipment for doctors in 49 hospitals of the province.
According to a tweet, the PMDA issued 4,171 N-95 masks, 149,500 surgical face masks, 13,700 gloves, 659 face shields, 659 face shield, 2,1487 surgical caps and 100 litres of hand sanitizer. The authority added that the equipment was obtained with the help of the NDMA.
The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that it was concerned about the increasing number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Japan.
But Japan is not yet in the stage of a large-scale community outbreak, Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, told an online press conference.
The Balochistan government has extended the lockdown in the province till May 5, said a notification shared by the provincial government.
The notification stated that restrictions imposed earlier will continue till May 5. The inter-city and inter-district transport will continue to remain suspended and a ban in public gatherings of more than 10 people will continue in the province.
Diplomats from the United States on Tuesday visited the National Command and Operations Centre in Islamabad and were briefed about the virus situation in the country.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza briefed the diplomats about the efforts being made by the government to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pakistan.
The Balochistan government on Tuesday extended the coronavirus lockdown in the province till May 5. A notification in this regard was also issued by the provincial authorities.
The restrictions imposed on movement and gatherings of people across the province to contain the spread of the epidemic have been maintained, the notification states.
Germany and other parts of Europe have taken tentative steps to ease lockdown measures as more countries saw death rates from the coronavirus fall, but officials warned the battle against the pandemic was far from over, AFP reported.
The World Health Organisation defended its handling of the crisis against scathing criticism from Washington and others, with its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisting the UN body had been warning against the virus “from day one”.
The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus across Pakistan rose to 9,219 on Tuesday after new infections were confirmed in different parts of the country.
The death toll from the virus also increased to 192 after seven new deaths were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan on Tuesday said that the government was committed to protecting the interests of the people during the coronavirus crisis.
"The ordinance against hoarders is an affirmation of the will of the government that it will deal strictly with hoarders and profiteers in this time of crisis," she said.
The World Health Organization has recognised a worrisome trend of infections among healthcare workers in the Philippines and is working closely with the country’s health ministry on ways of addressing it.
Abdi Mahamud, the COVID-19 incident manager for the Western Pacific region, said that as many as 13% of cases in the Philippines were health workers although there was no exact data to explain that, Reuters reported.
US President Donald Trump said Monday that he planned to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic, despite the US already being the worst-hit country in the world, AFP reported.
"In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" he tweeted Monday night.
The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Punjab rose to 4,195 early on Tuesday, according to a message shared on Twitter by Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar.
The number of deaths from the virus in the province also rose to 45, CM Buzdar said, taking the total number of virus-related deaths across the country to 185
Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan took to Twitter to share details of the coronavirus cases in Balochistan, informing that one more person had died from the coronavirus on Monday, April 20, 2020, taking the total death toll in the province to 6.
For our April 20 coronavirus coverage click here.
For our April 19 coronavirus coverage click here.