ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported 83 more deaths in the last 24 hours by coronavirus (COVID-19) taking the nationwide tally of fatalities to 21,105.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, as many as 1,893 new cases of the COVID-19 detected. The overall country’s caseload stands at 928,588.

A total of 52,859 samples were tested to diagnose the deadly virus, out of which 1,893 turned out to be positive. The positivity rate of infections was recorded at 3.58%, the NCOC said.

3,431 more people recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recovered patients to  856,005. The number of COVID-19 patients in critical care has come down to 3,557.

Thursday, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had directed the provincial governments to take strict administrative actions against the masses flouting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of COVID-19.

The NCOC had issued directives during a meeting held in Islamabad today with Planning and Development minister Asad Umar in the chair.

The meeting was attended by chief secretaries of the provinces including that of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) via video link.

The forum decided to take all possible steps to ensure the implementation of COVID SOPs along with pursuing the mass vaccination campaign.