Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown will be lifted in phases starting from Saturday, despite a surge in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths.

“We know that we’re doing it at a time when our curve is going up but it is not edging up as we were expecting,” Dawn news quoted Khan as saying in a televised address on Thursday alongside his aides after a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) in Islamabad.

PM Khan also warned that the restrictions could be restored anytime if the outbreak worsens.

The announcement came as Sindh and Punjab provinces both crossed 9,000 cases on Thursday and reported their highest daily death tolls, Dawn news reported.

On Monday, Khan said that the government had decided to gradually ease the lockdown in the coming days, keeping in view the ground realities, especially the economic situation of the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, Khan said that the government was trying its best to provide all possible relief to the people in view of the coronavirus situation, adding that despite the difficult circumstances, the government announced an economic package of 1.25 trillion PKR,

Last week, Imran Khan government has extended the countrywide lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic for 15 more days until May 9 amid doctors warnings against easing restrictions.

Earlier, the government approved a Rs 700 crore special relief package for labourers to help them face the economic fallout of the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Punjab reported 26 deaths, the highest single-day total of any province so far, while Sindh reported 14 deaths.

The total number of deaths countrywide have reached 585, registering a 100 per cent increase over the last 10 days.

As of Friday morning, the overall number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan increased to 24,954, with 593.

Meanwhile, coronavirus worldwide cases have crossed 3.9 million mark with positive patients currently at 3,916,244 including 270,709 deaths and 1,341,239 recovered, according to Worldometer figures.