Pakistan on Friday has reported 3,449 new cases and 40 COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours.

According to statistics shared by National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), the country's nerve center for unified efforts against coronavirus, 42,845 coronavirus tests were taken, 3,449 new confirmed cases were registered, and 40 deaths were reported countrywide in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 27,188 active cases and 2,064 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 619,259. Pakistan has so far recorded 13,757 coronavirus-related deaths, and a total of 578,314 patients have recovered from the novel disease.

As per the provincial breakdown of active cases, Punjab currently has 12,569 active cases, Sindh 4,720, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa 4,258, Balochistan 178, Gilgit Baltistan 8, Islamabad 4,584, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir has 871 active cases of COVID-19.

NCOC expresses serious concern over SOPs violations in all major cities:

NCOC on Thursday expressed serious concerns over gross violations of corona Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by the general public and asked the provincial administrations to ensure swift action for ensuring adherence to safety guidelines.

The forum expressed serious concern over the rising disease trend and mortality rate. The centre was briefed that a sharply rising trend in the disease was visible and the positivity ratio had crossed 7.5 percent. “Almost all major cities have crossed 5 percent positivity,” the forum was informed.

Keeping in view the rising infection trend the provincial administrations were asked to take immediate actions for the strict implementation of Covid SOPs. The forum also showed serious concern on a general disregard of SOPs by the masses.