According to the statistics provided by the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), 1,340 new coronavirus cases and 36 new Covid casualties were reported in Pakistan yesterday.

The coronavirus positivity rate of the country (that is the percentage of newly confirmed cases out of the total tests conducted) remained 3.16% in the last 24 hours.

• Detailed novel coronavirus statistics of Pakistan are as follows:

  Total cases: 569,846
  Cases reported in the last 24 hours: 1,340

  Total deaths: 12,563
  Deaths reported in the last 24 hours: 36

  Total tests conducted: 8,644,847
  Tests conducted in the last 24 hours: 42,332

  Total recoveries: 533,202
  Recoveries in the last 24 hours: 1,362

It must be noted that the numbers of cases and deaths reported in Pakistan are deemed to be way lesser than the actual figures due to multiple reasons. Doctors working on the frontline in the pandemic report that the statistics can be misleading as many patients don't have classic signs and symptoms of COVID-19 but are infected by the flu bug. Also, the availability and accuracy of PCR Covid tests are big issues.

The thing is that we shouldn't just rely on the statistics shared by the government, the coronavirus remains a big scare. So the wise thing for us is to follow the corona SOPs and avoiding public gatherings.