Pakistan Is Understating Virus Infections and Deaths, Official Says
- Head of task force says many deaths are not being counted
- Nation starts to lockdown highly infected areas this week
Photographer: Arif Ali/AFP via Getty Images
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Pakistan is understating its rate of infections and the death toll from the coronavirus, the head of a government task force said, as the country becomes a hot spot for the pandemic in South Asia.
“The actual numbers will be two to three times more than what the government is reporting,” Atta ur Rahman, chairman of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s task force on science and technology, said on the phone. A large number of cases aren’t being reported because of low testing and as reasons other than respiratory failure aren’t being counted in deaths, he said.