According to statistics shared by National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), the country's nerve center for unified efforts against coronavirus, 45,656 coronavirus tests were taken, 4,767 new confirmed cases were registered, and 57 deaths were reported countrywide in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 3,043 critical patients of COVID-19 admitted at different hospitals in the country.

With these latest statistics, the country's total number of confirmed cases stands at 654,591. Pakistan has so far recorded 14,215 coronavirus-related deaths, and a total of 595,929 patients have recovered from the novel disease.

The country has so far conducted 10066726 coronavirus tests countrywide.

The positivity ratio reported in the last 24 hours is 10.44%.

NCOC also shared a warning, asking the public to adhere to Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) and ensure strict compliance of instructions being issued.

"Region is under the grip of deadly COVID wave. Please adhere to SOPs and ensure strict compliance with instructions being issued. Stay Safe!"

Lahore administration on Saturday mandated masks amid soaring positivity ratio:

The district administration of Lahore on Saturday has announced asked the public to adhere to the COVID-19 SOPs and that anyone not wearing a mask in public places will be thrown in jail.

The decision was announced after a meeting was held today (Saturday) headed by the Lahore police chief and Commissioner Lahore Muhammad Usman. The coronavirus situation was discussed and reviewed during the meeting and important decisions were taken.

The commissioner ordered strict implementation of the mask-wearing rule. He said that those who do not wear masks will be detained, have a case registered against them, and may face a jail term of up to six months.