An Update on the Spread of COVID-19 in Pakistan

ABSTRACT:In Pakistan, the outbreak of Covid-19 was announced by the Ministry of Health on February 26, 2020 and a single covid-19 case in the city of Karachi was confirmed. The number of cases started to multiply rapidly in Pakistan, although a strict lockdown was observed from 15th March 2020 until May, 2020. The most prevalent number of cases were in Punjab, decreasing to Sindh, KPK, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan, Islamabad, Azad Jamu, and Kashmir in fewer numbers. Pakistan had more chances of threats as its border is near to China, but on the contrary to the statistics proposed by WHO, the number of cases started to reduce in Pakistan from August 2020. This may be due to the hot climatic conditions of the country. According to CDC and WHO, 16th August, 2020, in Pakistan, out of 288041 confirmed cases, 6162 deaths occurred and 265624 cases have been recovered, which is a positive indication towards the recovery of other patients too. WHO has praised the strategies adopted by Pakistan to cope with this novel disease. However, it is also necessary to keep on maintaining the SOPs suggested by WHO in advance if the infection reappears.