Islamabad, Jul 12 (IANS): The Pakistan government has urged the public to continue taking precautionary measures to avoid a spike in the number of coronavirus cases similar to the three countries with the highest number of cases, the media reported.

Of the total 248,135 cases reported till Saturday night, 153,134 (61.7 per cent) patients have already recovered, indicating that active cases have dropped to 95,001 (38.2 per cent).

Over the past 24 hours, Pakistan reported 2,670 new cases and 64 deaths, taking the national tally to 248,135 infectionsand fatalities to 5,170.

Noting that all the trends of COVI-19 were declining, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Saturday tweeted that on June 20, there were 2,969 patients on oxygenated beds and 546 on ventilators.

"The number has been reduced due to which now there are 1,762 patients on oxygenated beds and 394 on ventilators, which depict a 28 per cent reduction in number," he added.

Asad said this happened due to the smart lockdowns policy of the government and enforcement of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

However, he added that collective efforts of the people were needed to contain the virus by following the SOPs.

This way both the life and livelihoods of the people would remain safe, he said.