The number of Covid-19 crossed the 48,000-mark in Pakistan on Thursday after 2,193 new cases surfaced in the last 24 hours.

The total number of infections in the country are to 48,091, Pakistan's health ministry said. The death toll stands at 1,017 with 32 new fatalities, it further added.

Sindh reported the maximum number of 18,964 cases, followed by 17,382 in Punjab, 6,815 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 2,968 in Balochistan, 1,235 in Islamabad, 579 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 148 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

As many as 14,155 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.

As many as 15,346 coronavirus tests, the highest in a single day, were conducted in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, health officials said. The authorities have conducted 4,29,600 tests so far.

The number of daily testing increased after Planning Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday said that 30,000 tests per day would be sufficient for Pakistan to control the spread of the deadly virus.

Pakistan is in a position to conduct over 25,000 tests per day, he said, expressing hope that by May-end or early June the country would be able to conduct 30,000 tests per day.

Meanwhile, a report released by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) said that Covid-19 has claimed the lives of three mediapersons in the country and infected 156 others.

The report released on Wednesday highlighted that camerapersons and photojournalists have been the biggest sufferers since the pandemic struck the country, reports Dawn news.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that people "will have to learn to live with the coronavirus until a vaccine is developed". Khan was speaking at the inauguration of the Covid-19 Telehealth Portal in Islamabad to help people get medical services on phone.

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