Pakistan, India coronavirus cases, deaths spike

Pakistan reported a record single-day spike in coronavirus-related deaths with 82 new fatalities and 4,688 cases that it says resulted from increased testing in the past 24 hours.

Pakistan's outbreak has grown steadily since the country's first case in February. Since then, 1,770 people have died and 85,264 have tested positive.

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As many as 901 patients were listed in critical condition at hospitals on Thursday. The country has barely 3,000 intensive care beds serving a population of 220 million.

Pakistan for the first time conducted over 20,000 tests in the past 24 hours. It has done more than 615,000 tests after increasing its testing capacity from only two labs in February.

Muslim devotees offer Friday prayers at a mosque in Lahore.  File/AFP

The spike comes after Prime Minister Imran Khan eased lockdown restrictions over expert's recommendations to maintain them to prevent the spread of the virus. Authorities have blamed people not adhering to social distancing regulations for the growing outbreak.

India’s COVID-19 fatalities have passed 6,000 after registering 260 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The country registered 9,304 new cases in yet another record single-day spike in infections, raising its totals to 216,919 cases with 6,075 deaths, the Health Ministry reported Thursday.

A doctor engages with people at a slum area in Mumbai, India. File/AP

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said it was ramping up the testing across the country and has performed 4 million. It said the daily capacity was almost 140,000 tests done through 480 government and 208 private laboratories.

India's infections have spiked in recent weeks, mostly in its cities. The coastal state of Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected, with 74,860 cases and 2,587 deaths. The state capital is densely crowded Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital.

India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the pandemic.

Associated Press