ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recorded 1,302 new infections and 26 deaths during the last 24 hours, whereas, the number of active cases of coronavirus went up to 15,317 from 14,646.

The total count of deaths reached up to 6,893 and 316,665 patients recovered from the virus, according to statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

32,376 tests were carried out for the detection of COVID-19 during the last 24 hours as the country has so far conducted 4,573,768 tests.

Earlier on Wednesday, the secretary-general of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Dr Qaiser Sajjad had urged the political parties to avoid holding public gatherings in the wake of the second spike of coronavirus in the country.
In his statement, Dr Qaiser had cautioned that the situation can get worst if health-related guidelines were neglected in the public gatherings. He added that the world is facing the second strong wave of the coronavirus pandemic. He said that the second spike could be lethal for Pakistan as well.

However, Dr Qaiser had ruled out the need for closing educational institutions in the country and underlined the need for proper enforcement of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

In another development yesterday, the health ministry had recommended purchases of potential coronavirus vaccines under last-stage trials and allocation of $100 million funds for its advance booking.

Pakistan made a decision to purchase the possible vaccines of COVID-19 in advance and permission was sought from the Prime Minister Imran Khan by the health ministry, sources privy to the development told ARY News.

The Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination had written a letter to PM Imran Khan to seek permission for advance booking of coronavirus vaccines.