Pakistan virus deaths drop, but government warns of Eid spike

A flagship hospital built with UAE support has treated 10,000 Covid-19 patients in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. WAM

Pakistan has reported an 80 per cent drop in coronavirus deaths but risked a spike in new cases after the upcoming Eid festival, a government health official said on Sunday.

According to government data, daily virus deaths peaked at about 150 in June. On Saturday, 24 fatalities were reported over the previous day.

Zafar Mirza, a senior health adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, told reporters about six per cent of those tested were found to have the coronavirus.

"The number of deaths caused by coronavirus has dropped by 80 per cent in Pakistan," he said.

In all, Pakistan has confirmed more than 270,000 cases including nearly 5,800 deaths.

Some observers, however, said the numbers did not reflect the true extent of cases in Pakistan, with many people reluctant to be tested and overall testing rates still low.

Faisal Sultan, who is helping lead the government's coronavirus response, said on Sunday that 23,000 out of an available 50,000 tests had been utilised in the previous 24 hours.

The health ministry did not respond to a query about why the testing rate was so low.

Many people ignored social distancing guidelines and flocked to mosques and markets during the last religious holiday marking the end of Ramadan in May, helping fuel a surge in Covid-19 cases across Pakistan.

The increase prompted the World Health Organisation to call for new lockdowns across Pakistan.

For the upcoming Eid Al Adha festival, which begins on Friday in Pakistan, Mr Mirza said people should not flock to animal markets and urged them to "buy sacrificial animals online to prevent a spike in new coronavirus cases".

"Any negligence... could make the situation worse," he said.