Pakistan reports lowest coronavirus deaths since April amid Eid Al-Adha celebrations

In this picture taken on July 22, 2020, a man wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus shops at the Raja Bazar in Rawalpindi. (AFP)

• Officials have already said the country may witness another spike in infections after Eid Al-Adha, Muharram
• PM Khan, President Alvi have urged the public to exercise caution while observing the Muslim festival

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday reported its lowest single-day fatality count since April, with 27 coronavirus deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, as the country marked the second day of the Eid Al-Adha festival.
According to the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 portal, as of Sunday, the national caseload stood at 279,699 while 5,976 people had died from the disease.
Out of the total number of infections recorded, 2,086 were from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 2,157 from Gilgit-Baltistan, 15,052 from Islamabad, 34,160 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,762 from Balochistan, while 93,173 were from Punjab and 121,309 from Sindh.
There was also an uptick in recoveries, with 248,577 cases recorded thus far. 
There are reports of a gradual decline in the overall infection rate in the country, and local hospitals, which lacked space for COVID-19 patients until recently, are beginning normalize their operations.
However, government officials have already warned that the country may witness another spike in the coronavirus cases after Eid Al-Adha and Muharram.
Muslims across Pakistan began their Eid celebrations on Saturday amid COVID-19 restrictions even as Prime Minister Imran Khan had urged the public to celebrate the festival with “simplicity” to prevent a spike in cases. 
“Take all precautionary measures on Eid Al-Adha while performing the obligatory rituals of Qurbani (slaughter animals) and include the poor and needy in the celebration,” he said in a statement on Saturday. 
He was joined by President Arif Alvi who said the pandemic had been “largely controlled with government policies and public discipline,” before asking people to “avoid crowded bazaars and cattle markets on Eid.” 
The two leaders’ messages follow increased security measures across the country with authorities working round the clock to ensure that Pakistan remains on track in flattening the curve. 
This is after several people had flouted social distancing rules and flocked to mosques and markets during Eid Al-Fitr in May, resulting in a significant surge in COVID-19 cases across the country. 
The spike in cases had prompted the World Health Organization to call for new lockdowns across Pakistan.