Pakistan witnesses jump in COVID-19 cases, death toll at 610

Pakistan has so far registered 610 Coronavirus deaths.

Punjab recorded 838 cases in the past 24 hours — the highest single-day jump any province has seen so far. The total number of cases in Punjab is now 10,033, reports Dawn News.

The province also confirmed one death, taking Punjab's death toll to 183. About 22 patients are in a critical condition, Punjab's primary and secondary healthcare department was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Punjab region has conducted 117,206 tests. 

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that 598 cases have emerged in the province over the past 24 hours. Five additional deaths have also been reported, reported Dawn News.

The province has registered 9,691 cases and 176 deaths.

Pakistan is currently observing the holy month of Ramadan.

In the country, mosques have now become a COVID-19 outbreak issue, as per media reports.

Giving a picture of how Pakistani mosques are not following the measures properly, Al Jazeera cited the condition of Abdullah bin Masood mosque in Islamabad.

Inside, more than 200 people are gathered, separated by a few feet between them - to maintain physical distancing - as they offer tarawih prayers, a special Muslim prayer offered in the holy month of Ramadan, Al Jazeera reported.

There is not a face mask or bottle of hand sanitiser to be seen, as more worshippers walk past the police picket outside to crowd into the mosque's inner chamber, with its fluorescent lights twinkling off the latticed mirror ceiling, reporte the news channel.

"Essential services have been reopened, and offering prayers as part of a congregation is also an essential service," Hanif Jallandhri, a Pakistani religious leader who leads a network of more than 20,000 mosques and religious schools, tells Al Jazeera.

Pakistan's image remained in contrast to other Muslim nations where authorities have shut down all mosques to the public in a bid to contain the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.

In Pakistan, however, tens of thousands of mosques across the country reopened late last month, after religious leaders prevailed upon the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to allow them to restart congregational services, reports Al Jazeera.

Shia organisations on Thursday demanded that the Sindh government immediately withdraw its notification for banning religious gatherings on Yaum-e-Ali and said they would hold mourning congregations and processions on Ramazan 21 following the standard operating procedure (SOP), which President Arif Alvi and religious scholars had agreed on in a meeting in Islamabad last month, reported The News International.

Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan President Allama Syed Razi Jaffer Naqvi told the Pakistan-based newspaper: "Shia scholars have already limited their congregations to support the government’s efforts to limit the coronavirus spread. However, the Sindh government has intentionally issued a notification that was not signed by an authorised official about banning the Yaum-e-Ali congregation."

He said the provincial government's act had hurt the emotions of millions of Shia Muslims.