Pakistan COVID-19 cases increases to 183

The total number of cases of COVID-19 has surged past 1,60,000 worldwide while the death toll has crossed 6,500. In Pakistan, the total number of cases shot up to 183 after Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa confirmed 115 and 15 new infections.

Islamabad:The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan has increased to 183, after Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) confirmed 115 and 15 new infections, respectively.

This is the single largest increase in coronavirus cases in the country so far, media reported on Tuesday.

"This exponential increase is largely due to the recent inflow of pilgrims brought in from Taftan border after a purported quarantine," Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Information Murtaza Wahab tweeted.

On Monday, Sindh health minister Azra Fazal Pechuho said there are 76 confirmed cases in Sukkur (all patients arrive from the Pakistan-Iran Taftan border), 26 in Karachi and one in Hyderabad.

Wahab, earlier in the day, had said another 11 people who have reached the province from Taftan have tested positive.

Meanwhile, KP reported 15 cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday.

"Just received news that 15 out of 19 individuals received in KP from Taftan have tested positive for coronavirus. These are the first positive cases in KP," provincial health minister Taimur Khan Jhagra said in a tweet.

"They are being well looked after in quarantine in an isolated facility in DI (Dera Ismail) Khan...". The other confirmed cases were reported in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad and Punjab.

(With inputs from IANS)