A minister in Pakistan has said that the number of coroanvirus disease cases in the country could reach up to 12 lakh by the end of July.

“We’re in mid-June and our cases have reached approximately 1,50,000. It saddens me to say that based on our current trajectory, experts have projected that our cases could double by the end of June,” said Minister for Planning Asad Umar.

“With the current trajectory, the novel coronavirus could reach 10 lakh to 12 lakh by the end of July,” said Umar, who is in-charge of the national response to the coronavirus pandemic.

He urged people to get serious about the disease and wear masks.

Pakistan, meawhile, recorded the highest number of 6,825 coronavirus disease cases in a single day on Sunday as its tally of the Covid-19 patients reached 1,39,230.

Capital Islamabad reported 771 cases on Sunday, its highest single-day increase. With this, Islamabad’s Covid-19 tally reached 7,934.

Till now, Punjab province remains to have reported the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country. While 52,601 Covid-19 cases have been reported in Punjab province, Sindh has confirmed 51,518 cases, media reports said.

The Ministry of National Health Services reported that 81 patients died of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 2,632.

A total of 51,735 have recovered from the disease.

So far, 8,68,565 tests have been conducted across the country, including 29,546 in the last 24 hours.

Radio Pakistan reported Prime Minister Imran Khan as saying on June 13 that the country cannot sustain with complete lockdown for a long time as its 25 per cent population is living below the poverty line.

“For countries like us, the only option is a smart lockdown so that the burden doesn’t fall on poor people,” he added.

The Covid-19 cases in other provinces of Pakistan are as follows: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 17,450, Balochistan 8,028, Islamabad 7,934, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,095 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 604.