NEW DELHI: The upward spiral of coronavirus cases and the “arrest” of Indian High Commission staffers in Islamabad made news in Pakistan in the last few days. American blogger Cynthia D Ritchie, who had sparked a major controversy with her allegations against the country’s top leaders, also dominated the headlines across the border.
Here is a weekly round-up of developments in Pakistan:
1
Pakistan reports over 5,000 new cases, tally crosses 140,000-mark
Pakistan’s Covid-19 cases reached 144,676 after 5,248 new infections were detected, while 97 more people have succumbed to the coronavirus, pushing the death toll to 2,729, the health ministry said on Monday.
According to the ministry of national health services, 29,085 tests were done in the last 24 hours taking the total number of Covid-19 tests conducted in the country to 897,650.
Out of the total 144,676 infections, Punjab reported 54,138 cases, Sindh 53,805, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 18,013, Islamabad 8,569, Balochistan 8,177, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,129 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 647, according to The News.
The ministry said that 97 more patients died in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 2,729 and another 53,721 have recovered.
Minister for planning Asad Umar warned on Sunday that the number of patients could reach upto 1.2 million by the end of July.
2
2 officials of Indian High Commission arrested in Pak
Two Indian high commission staffers in Islamabad went missing on Monday morning following which India has taken up the matter with the Pakistan foreign office, government sources said.
According to latest reports, the off