Covid Asia round-up: Pakistan reports record single-day spike

Islamabad, June 12

Pakistan has reported 6,397 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest single day spike, taking the total number of infections in the country to 1,25,933, the health ministry said on Friday.

The new record single day spike was reported on a day when the Pakistan government was to present the budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year in Parliament after showing dismal negative 0.38 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the outgoing year, for which the officials have blamed the coronavirus outbreak among the main reasons.

The Ministry of National Health Services reported that 107 patients died of coronavirus during the last 24 hours. A total of 40,247 patients have recovered from the contagious infection so far.

Punjab province has reported 47,382 patients of coronavirus, Sindh 46,828, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 15,787, Balochistan 7,673, Islamabad 6,699, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,030 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir reported 534 cases till now, the health ministry said.

"A total of 809,169 tests has been conducted so far, including a record 28,344 in the last 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.

Though the government would present the Budget in Parliament on Thursday, the attendance is expected to be low as several of them have been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection, including opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif.

Advisor on economic affairs Dr Abdul Hafeed Shaikh, while launching the Economic Survey on Thursday, said that Pakistan's economy suffered more than Rs 3 trillion losses due to the coronavirus. 

S Korea has 56 new cases amid resurgence

Seoul: South Korea is reporting 56 new cases of COVID-19 as the country continues to see a resurgence of the virus concentrated in the capital area.

Figures released by South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday brought national totals to 12,003 cases and 277 deaths. It says 10,699 people have so far been released from hospitals after recovery, but 1,057 others remain in treatment.

At least 45 of the new cases were reported from the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of South Korea's 51 million people live.

Health officials have struggled to track transmissions linked to entertainment and leisure activities, church gatherings and low-income workers who couldn't afford to stay home. — AP