Every day in Pakistan is now bringing in more and more coronavirus cases as the country reported 5248 newly-infected people during the past 24 hours after which the total climbed to 144,478.

Another 97 people died from the virus during the same period, raising the death toll to 2,729.

The latest figures released by National Command and Operation Centre on Monday morning stated there are 3144 people in critical condition due to the COVID-19 across the country.

Meanwhile, Punjab has now topped 54,138 cases. It is followed by Sindh where the number currently stands at 53,805.

The two most-populated provinces are followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18,013, Balochistan 8,177, Islamabad 8569, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,129 and Azad Kashmir 647.

The national database for coronavirus shows that another 1,986 people have recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours. The number of recoveries in the country now stands at 53,712.

On the other hand, number of deaths recorded in Punjab rose to 1,031. Sindh continued to be second on the list with 831 deaths. The figures for the remaining provinces/administrative units were: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 675, Balochistan 85, Islamabad 78, Gilgit-Baltistan 16 and Azad Kashmir 13.

Meanwhile, there are 88,028 active cases in the country.

 On the other hand, another record was also set as 29,085 tests were conducted in last 24 hours, which is one of the highest daily numbers for the country. It means a total of 897,650 tests have so far been carried out in Pakistan since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The good news is that there was no patient on ventilator in Balochistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Bleak outlook

Earlier on Sunday, Federal Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Minister Asad Umar on Sunday said that the way the number of coronavirus cases has been raising in Pakistan day by day the experts are warning that the infections could top one million by the end of July.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Asad Umar said at the moment there were nearly 150,000 coronavirus cases in the country and it is believed that they might shoot up to 300,000 by the end of the current month.

The minister informed that administration measures are being multiplied to minimize the impact of this spike in cases on the people.

Asad Umar claimed that Pakistan took better decisions as compared to the other countries to stem the spread of the deadly virus that has killed 2,792 people in the country so far.