Islamabad, Aug 27 (IANS): Active coronavirus cases in Pakistan fell below the 10,000 mark, while less than a dozen deaths have been reported on an average in the last 25 days, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

On Wednesday, the NCOC claimed that there were only 8,987 active Covid-19 cases across the country presently, reports Dawn news.

Out of 1,920 ventilators dedicated for Covid-19 patients, only 113 were being used and there is no patient on ventilator in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and Balochistan.

A total of 153 persons died due to Covid-19 on June 20 and nine-day average, from June 17 to 25, was 118 casualties per day.

The NCOC also said that around 7,000 healthcare workers were infected with the virus but 80 per cent or 5,644 of them have already recovered.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate among daily tested samples has also drastically dropped, Dawn news reported.

The Centre revealed that there was over 20 per cent positivity on July 17 but it dropped to only 1.96 per cent on August 26.

As many as 6,825 cases were reported on July 14 but only 482 people were tested Covid-19 positive on August 25.

Despite the optimistic figures, the NCOC has voiced concern over violation of SOPs at tourist spots and urged provinces and regions to focus on additional testing.

It further urged people to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

As of Friday, the total number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan stood at 294,638, with 6,274 deaths.