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). On 18 March, cases had been registered in all four provinces, the two autonomous territories, and Islamabad Capital Territory, and by 17 June, each district in Pakistan had recorded at least one confirmed case of COVID-19.Pakistan currently has the 8th-highest number of confirmed cases in Asia, after India, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Turkey; the 3rd-highest number of confirmed cases in South Asia after India and Bangladesh; and the 28th highest number of confirmed cases in the world. On 15 June, daily new confirmed case numbers reached their peak, with 6,825 new cases recorded, but since then, new daily cases and the percentage of people testing positive have trended downwards. In late June, the number of active cases in Pakistan stabilized, and beginning in July, started showing a significant decrease. On 2 July, recoveries exceeded active cases for the first time as 8,929 recoveries were recorded, meaning that 51% of all confirmed cases in the country to date had recovered. While Pakistan has the world's 28th highest case count, it only has the world's 29th highest death count.The province of Sindh has recorded the most cases at about 134,000, and has also recorded the most deaths due to COVID-19, about 2,500 to date. The country was put under a nation-wide lockdown from April 1 and extended twice until 9 May. Upon its end, the lockdown was eased in phases. The distribution of COVID-19 in Pakistan is heavily concentrated in a few key areas. The city of Karachi (as of 5 September 2020) has recorded about 84,000 confirmed cases, making up about 28% of all cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Lahore, the country's second-largest city, has recorded (as of 5 September 2020) 49,000 cases of COVID-19, making up about 16% of the country's cases. Islamabad Capital Territory and Peshawar District have also both recorded over 10,000 cases. Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar account for about 163,000 cases, which make up nearly 55% of the country's total confirmed cases. The national carrier, PIA decided to suspend the flight operation between Pakistan and China till 30 January due to the outbreak. After confirmed reports of hundreds of cases in neighbouring China, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) introduced screening measures at four major airports: Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar for every passenger arriving from China.[148] Screening was also started for domestic travellers at Karachi's airport on 21 March. On 13 March, President Dr. Arif Alvi in a special tweet, advised the public to avoid participation in mass gatherings, handshaking or hugging in addition to taking other precautionary measures if they observe symptoms of flu or coronavirus infection. Pakistan also stopped all international flights, except those at Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airports on the day. It was also decided on 13 March at the National Security Council meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan that all schools and universities would be closed until 5 April. However, the faculty and staff will go to work as usual. The lectures and classes will be held online in some institutions i.e., Riphah International University, FAST NUCES University, Institute of Space Technology. The Pakistan Day Parade, scheduled to be held on 23 March was also cancelled along with all public events and proceedings of the Senate were postponed for two weeks on the day.COVID-19 Equipment in Pakistan Pakistan closed its borders to travellers from Afghanistan at the Chaman border from 2 until 21 March. The border was only partially reopened later after 21 March for transportation of food items while pedestrian movement remained suspended. The Durand Line border was sealed from 16 March for at least two weeks. The same time period also applied to the land border with Iran after reopening it on 7 March from a previous closure. All land borders, including the China-Pakistan border with China were shut from 16 March.