ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has soared to 10,076 in Pakistan with 212 fatalities whereas 2,156 people have recovered from the disease across the country, according to the data released by the health ministry on Wednesday evening.
The country currently has 7,708 active cases whereas the mortality rate of the COVID-19 infected patients is 2.1 percent and recovery rate is 21.4 percent, the official statistics revealed.
East Punjab province is the worst hit with 4,328 positive cases, followed by south Sindh province where 3,373 cases were reported.
Local health authorities have expressed concern that the number of the infected patients may rise sharply due to the leniency in lockdown by the government which took the decision to open a few industrial units and retail shops to favor the daily wage laborers and the businessmen who were bearing the economic loss of the lockdown.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, health authorities and renowned doctors from Sindh appealed to the public to stay indoors and remain cautious of catching the disease as the country does not have the "capacity to handle the situation if the number of patients rises sharply, and the health department does not want to treat people in the hospital's corridors and on the roads due to over-crowdedness in hospital wards."
Health authorities also said that the cases may reach their peak in May and June if the public did not follow social distancing, as the local transmission of the virus has surged to 65 percent in the country.
