PESHAWAR (Nationaltimesnews) – The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Thursday has hinted at imposing complete lockdown across the province in the wake of increasing coronavirus cases.While exclusively talking to Dunya News, Special Assistant to the KP Chief Minister on Information Kamran Bangash said that the third wave of COVID-19 is extremely dangerous. The authorities will take strict decision if cases in KP continue to surge, he told.The special assistant said that the schools in nine districts have already been closed. He further urged the locals to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent the spread of the virus.On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 61 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 615,810. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 13,717.According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 3,495 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.Till now 262,207 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 191,186 in Punjab 77,443 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 49,476 in Islamabad, 19,269 in Balochistan, 11,264 in Azad Kashmir and 4,965 in Gilgit-Baltistan.Furthermore 5,896 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 4,469 in Sindh, 2,188 in KP, 531 in Islamabad, 328 in Azad Kashmir, 202 in Balochistan, and 103 in GB.Pakistan has so far conducted 9,648,242 coronavirus tests and 44,377 in the last 24 hours. 577,501 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,062 patients are in critical condition.