COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan

The COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Pakistan on 26 February 2020, when two cases were recorded (a student in Karachi who had just returned from Iran and another person in the Islamabad Capital Territory).^[3] On 18 March 2020, cases had been registered in all four provinces, the two autonomous territories, and Islamabad Capital Territory,^[4] and by 17 June, each district in Pakistan had recorded at least one confirmed case of COVID-19.

Despite being the world's 5th-most-populous country, Pakistan only has so far recorded the world's 29th-highest death toll (at approximately 23,087) and 29th-highest number of confirmed cases (at approximately 1,011,708). However, these figures do not include undercounting of COVID-19 infections in the country.^[5][6]

Pakistan so far has experienced three different waves of COVID-19. The nation's first wave of COVID-19 began in late May 2020, peaked in mid-June when daily new confirmed case numbers and daily new death numbers reached high points, then ended in mid-July. The first wave was marked by a low death rate, and passed very suddenly as case and death rates began to drop very quickly after peaking.^[7] After the first wave, Pakistan's COVID-19 situation subsided daily new death numbers and testing positivity rates in the country stabilized at low levels. Cases and deaths began rising again, though, in early November 2020, culminating in the country's second wave. This wave was low in its intensity, mainly affected the southern province of Sindh, and peaked in mid-December 2020. The country's third wave began in mid-March 2021, when testing positivity rates, and daily new confirmed cases and deaths began to skyrocket. The third wave mainly affected the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This wave peaked in late April 2021, and since then, positivity rates, daily new case numbers, and daily new death numbers have been falling.

Pakistan's most populated province, Punjab, has so far seen the highest raw number of confirmed cases (334,000) and deaths (9,770). Sindh, the second-most populated province in the country, has seen the second-highest number of confirmed cases (308,000) and deaths (4,910), but was hit hardest by Pakistan's first two waves of the virus, and still has higher proportions of confirmed cases than all of Pakistan's other provinces. It also has the second-highest death rate, after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is Pakistan's third-most-populated province. While Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the third-highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 (129,000), it has faced an exceptionally high fatality rate of 3.03% which has caused it to have the highest death rate out of any province and the third-highest number of deaths (3,920). In the southwest of the country, the sparse and arid province of Balochistan has seen the lowest confirmed case count (24,500) and the lowest death count (270) of all of Pakistan's provinces and has also shown the lowest number of confirmed cases per capita, as well as the lowest number of deaths per capita. The fatality rate in Balochistan is especially low, currently standing at 1.10%. Islamabad Capital Territory, which is richer than any of Pakistan's provinces, has confirmed 80,300 cases and has seen 745 deaths so far, giving it a higher number of deaths per capita and a higher number of confirmed cases per capita than any Pakistani province, while also having the lowest fatality rate in the country.

The country was put under a nationwide lockdown from 1 April^[8] and extended twice^[9] until 9 May.^[10][11] Upon its end, the lockdown was eased in phases.^[12] After the first wave, the country has battled COVID-19 by using "smart lockdowns" and enforcing SOPs.^{[citation needed]}

The distribution of COVID-19 in Pakistan is heavily concentrated in a few key areas. The city of Karachi (as of 7 May 2021) has recorded about 189,000 confirmed cases, making up about 22% of all cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Lahore, the country's second-largest city, has recorded (as of 5 September 2020) 170,000 cases of COVID-19, making up about 19% of the country's cases. Islamabad Capital Territory and Peshawar District have recorded about 79,000 and 47,000 confirmed cases respectively as of the latest available data. Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar account for about 485,000 cases, which make up over 55% of the country's total confirmed cases.