Pakistan lost another frontline warrior in the fight against coronavirus pandemic as Dr Hafiz Maqsood breathed his last in Lahore on Thursday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Dr Hafiz Maqsood was an Associate Professor of anaesthesia at Services Hospital in Lahore and was under treatment at the hospital for the last one week. He was shifted to a ventilator on Wednesday but he breathed his last on Thursday.

On Wednesday, two more doctors – one in Karachi and another in Khairpur – died of coronavirus. One of them was Dr Zahoor Sheikh who had retired as assistant medical superintendent (AMS) of Civil Hospital last year. 

According to a spokesperson of Sindh Health Department, a total of nine doctors have so far died in the province since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of infected doctors in Faisalabad has reached 163 after another seven were tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Expressing concerns over the increasing number of COVID-19 cases across Sindh, doctors on Wednesday demanded of the provincial government to impose health emergency. Addressing a joint press conference, former president of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PEMA) Dr Misbahul Aziz said that a sharp increase in coronavirus cases has been witnessed after Eidul Fitr. He maintained that over 1,600 have succumbed to the virus thus far, adding that over 80,000 people were diagnosed with the COVID-19 in the province.

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan’s coronavirus cases have risen sharply since Eidul Fitr. On Wednesday, 4,688 new cases have been registered that takes the tally of total cases to 85,264 which is even more than China that currently stands at 83,022.