Pakistan has once again recorded only one death and 285 infections by coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Saturday), showed the figures released by the National Institute of Health Pakistan on Sunday morning.

As per the latest NIH data, with the addition of one more death the toll has now gone up to 30,361, whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,525,466 after adding the fresh 285 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Saturday), 30,167 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.94 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 365.

https://twitter.com/NIH_Pakistan/status/1510421828463857668

During the last 24 hours (Saturday), as many as 117 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,486,113. As of Sunday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 8,992.

As many as 575,683 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 505,127 in Punjab, 219,106 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 135,088 in Islamabad, 35,476 in Balochistan, 43,276 in Azad Kashmir and 11,710 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 13,558 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,097 in Sindh, 6,322 in KP, 1,023 in Islamabad, 792 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

China reports 13,000 Covid cases

China reported 13,000 Covid cases on Sunday, the most since the peak of the first pandemic wave over two years ago, with Shanghai now the epicentre of the country's worst outbreak. 

The highly transmissible Omicron variant has spread to more than a dozen provinces, rattling China's "zero-Covid" strategy which had until March successfully kept the daily caseload down to double or triple digits.

But the current outbreak is also testing the patience of the Chinese towards tough restrictions, as Beijing imposes targeted lockdowns, mass tests and travel curbs at a time when much of the world has re-opened.

Tens of millions of Chinese residents have once more endured some form of lockdown over the last month, disrupting work and damaging the economy. 

The country recorded 13,146 cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said in a statement, with "no new deaths" reported.

It is China's highest infection toll since the middle of February 2020. 

The streets of Shanghai were quiet Sunday as a citywide lockdown dragged on, with nearly 70 percent of the national infection caseload discovered from mass testing its 25 million residents.

But city authorities have conceded they are struggling to contain the outbreak, with thousands now in state quarantine and the capacity of health workers stretched. 

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan urged "resolute and swift moves to stem the spread of the virus" after a visit to Shanghai, official news agency Xinhua reported Sunday. 

Anger is rising among residents over lockdowns that were initially planned to last just for four days, but now appear likely to drag on for several more days as fresh rounds of mass testing are carried out.

Parents have expressed fears of separation from their children in the event of a positive test, while residents have griped about a lack of fresh food and the ability to walk dogs outside.

China, the country where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019, is among the last remaining places following a zero-Covid approach to the pandemic.

The outbreak has taken on an increasingly serious economic dimension, trimming analysts' growth projections as factories close and millions of consumers are ordered indoors.

Shanghai's restrictions threaten to snarl supply chains, with shipping giant Maersk saying some depots in the city remained closed and trucking services would likely be hit further due to the lockdown.

The World Health Organization's emergencies director Michael Ryan last week said it was important for all countries, including China, to have a plan to wind down pandemic restrictions.

But he said China's vast population provides a unique challenge to its health system and authorities will have to "define a strategy that allows them to exit (the pandemic) safely".

Brazil drops Covid test for vaccinated travellers

Brazil loosened its pandemic restrictions for international travelers Saturday, ending its Covid-19 test requirement for vaccinated passengers and scrapping a lengthy health questionnaire.

Travelers will now only be required to present proof of vaccination on arrival in the country, according to new regulations published late Friday in the government gazette, following a recommendation to the same effect from federal health regulator Anvisa last week.

Proof of vaccination is not required for Brazilians or foreigners with residency in Brazil. Unvaccinated travelers will have to present a negative Covid-19 test dated no more than one day before departure.

But under the new regulation they will no longer have to quarantine for 14 days.

The country also dropped Anvisa's pandemic health questionnaire for travelers, which had been required since December 2020.

Brazil has been among the countries hit hardest by Covid-19, which has claimed more than 660,000 lives in the country -- second only to the United States.

But the number of infections and deaths has fallen dramatically as the South American country has ramped up immunization, with nearly 75 percent of its 212 million people now fully vaccinated.

Brazil's average daily Covid-19 death toll has fallen to around 200, from more than 3,000 at the height of the crisis a year ago.

With inputs from AFP.