ISLAMABAD: The number of corona virus cases in the country has crossed 41,000 while Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar has expressed the view that the ability to conduct 30,000 tests daily to stop the spread of this deadly virus in Pakistan is satisfactory. ۔
At present we have the capacity to perform 25,000 tests daily which is increasing with each passing day.
“We hope to be able to do 30,000 tests a day by the end of this month or early next month,” Asad Omar said.
In response to a question, he said that 14,000 tests are being conducted on a daily basis across the country but this does not mean that more than 14,000 tests cannot be conducted in the country.
The Federal Minister, who chaired the meeting of the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), said, “At the moment, we are getting most of the samples from training hospitals or passengers entering Pakistan. We hope that training hospitals In addition, other hospitals will soon start collecting and sending samples, which will increase the number of tests.
He said 30,000 tests a day were enough to estimate the rate of spread of the corona virus and formulate future strategies accordingly.
Earlier, he had announced that the number of daily tests had increased 30-fold within two months (of the announcement of the lockdown).
It may be recalled that less than 500 tests were being conducted in Pakistan till mid-March but 14,000 tests are being conducted daily in the last few days.
Read more: Corona virus: More than 41,000 cases, 896 deaths in Pakistan
A total of 1,570 new cases and 30 deaths were reported in the country on Sunday, bringing the total number of victims in the country to over 41,000 while 11,341 people have fully recovered from it.
According to the NCOC, 319 patients are currently in critical condition and 8,680 patients have been admitted to 735 hospitals providing treatment for Covid 19.
On the other hand, the Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser, who was infected with the virus along with his family, thanked the people for the prayers in a video message.
“I am grateful to the nation that because of their prayers my family has recovered completely, I just want to say that everyone should follow the precautionary measures announced by the government and socially,” he said. Distance is the best weapon to fight this disease.
“I am confident that under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, we will get out of this difficult time,” he added.
“Pakistan belongs to all of us and it is the collective responsibility of all of us to play our part in its development,” he added.