ISLAMABAD : Pakistan reported 496 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of confirmed infections in the country to 293,261 and fatalities to 6,244.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 23,655 samples were tested for Covid-19 during this period, resulting in the emergence of 496 new cases.

Of the total confirmed cases, 276,829 patients have recuperated from the disease, thereby bringing the number of active cases of the virus down to 10,188.

A total of 1,163 patients are under treatment at 735 hospitals across the country, 115 of whom are struggling for their lives on ventilators. More than 2.4 million tests have been conducted thus far.

Earlier on Aug 23, the Punjab government had imposed “micro smart lockdown” in small neighbourhoods of three cities for a period of fourteen days to prevent the spread of deadly coronavirus that has affected over 96,000 people and killed 2,188 across the province.

The cities where localities were sealed include Lahore, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala. More than a dozen areas have been locked down in these cities, including Lahore’s twelve areas that reported 28 cases of late. As many as 19,538 residents of the provincial capital will be under lockdown.

Rawalpindi’s three areas with a population of 947 people have been sealed after they reported seven coronavirus cases while two localities have been locked down in Gujranwala where 53 locals will be under lockdown.