Pakistan warns of new lockdown as deaths rise

Pakistan’s military-backed National Command and Operation Center has issued a warning that another lockdown could be imposed to contain COVID-19 deaths if people don't stop violating social distancing rules.

The announcement on Wednesday came after Pakistan reported 660 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours and 19 single-day deaths.

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The daily death toll was one of Pakistan's highest in more than two months. Deaths from COVID-19 have steadily increased since the government lifted its months-long lockdown in August.

Pakistan reported 660 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours and 19 single-day deaths. File photo

Pakistan has reported 324,744 confirmed cases of the virus and 6,692 virus-related deaths since February.

The World Health Organization says Europe again reported a new high in the weekly number of coroavirus cases during the pandemic last week, recording more than 927,000 cases.

The UN health agency said in its latest global report on the coronavirus that the continent saw a 25% spike in confirmed cases last week and was responsible for 38% of all new cases reported worldwide.

Russia, the Czech Republic and Italy accounted for more than half of new COVID-19 cases in Europe.

The WHO report says the number of deaths in Europe also "continues to climb,” and increased by one-third from the previous week.

The health agency says Slovenia reported a 150% increase in cases in a week with a record 4,890 cases. Slovenia also reported 1,924 COVID-19 deaths, compared to one the week before.