Pakistan coronavirus deaths cross 100 in single highest daily toll

A woman rides on a motor bike as she wears a protective face mask amid the rush of people outside a market as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Karachi, Pakistan June 8, 2020. (REUTERS)

• PM Khan says number of infections could peak by end of July or start of August
• Follows a steady increase in cases; hospitals stretched to capacity

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded its highest single-day spike in coronavirus-related deaths with 105 fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the total count to 2,172 since the first case was reported in February this year, data posted on the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 portal showed.
The pandemic has also led to a steady increase in infections with 4,646 infections recorded in the past 24 hours, adding to the total of 108,317 cases across the country.
As of Tuesday, there were 40,819 cases in Punjab, 39,555 in Sindh, 14,006 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 6,788 in Balochistan, 952 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 5,785 in Islamabad and 412 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the data showed.
Acknowledging the fact that Pakistan’s hospitals were stretched to capacity due to the continuous surge in infections, Prime Minister Imran Khan warned on Monday that the cases could continue to rise and peak by the end of July or the beginning of August.
In a televised address to the nation, PM Khan said difficult times lay ahead for the country if people continued to flout the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set up by the government to limit the spread of the deadly disease.
Opposition parties, however, accuse the government of easing restrictions when a stricter lockdown was needed. 
Meanwhile, in an order on Monday, the Supreme Court emphasized on the need to establish laws at the national level to deal with the outbreak.
“We observe that the needful in this regard has not been done. We, therefore, re-emphasize the importance of legislation at the national level,” the court’s order read.