Even as total coronavirus cases rise in Pakistan and 24 deaths have been reported in one single day worshippers continue to defy restrictions.The death toll from COVID-19 in Pakistan rose to 169 on Sunday with record 24 new deaths in a day, and number of confirmed infections reached 8,411 as the virus cases are now sharply increasing in the country, according to a report in another Pak daily The News International.Out of the total cases, Punjab province has 3,822, Sindh 2,537, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1,137 Balochistan 432, Islamabad Capital Territory 171, Gilgit-Baltistan 263 and PoK has 49 cases, The New International reported.But despite a ban on congregational prayers, some mosques in Lahore held the Friday prayers in large groups, defying the government’s lockdown rules.“The Punjab government has banned gatherings and clusters to inhibit the spread of the pandemic in the province, yet citizens continue to find excuses to undermine the lockdown. It was noted that instead of the prescribed number of individuals allowed to pray together in the mosques, as many as four to five rows of worshippers offered the Friday prayer. Though people were less than usual, they were enough to pose a health risk to each other,” according to a report in Pak English daily Express Tribune.