The coronavirus death toll in Pakistan has hit another grim milestone as the number of fatalities topped 21,000 mark after the country recorded 92 more deaths and 2,028 infections during the last 24 hours (Wednesday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday morning.

As per the latest NCOC figures, the number of coronavirus cases registered a minor surge as 2,028 new cases of the COVID-19 were detected taking the overall country’s caseload to 926,695. The number of overall deaths so far stood at 21,022.

  A total of 51,523 samples were tested during the last 24 hours (Wednesday), out of which 2,028 turned out to be positive. The positivity rate of infections was recorded at 3.93 percent, the NCOC said.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1400280236730863627

As many as 3,889 more people recuperated from the disease during the last 24 hours (Wednesday), taking the number of recovered patients to 852,574. The number of COVID-19 patients in critical care has come down to 3,630.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Punjab has reported a total of 340,989 cases, Sindh 320,488, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 133,450, Islamabad 81,446, Balochistan 25,370, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 19,344, and Gilgit Baltistan 5,608.

Pakistan has so far administered nearly eight million doses of Covid vaccine.

It is pertinent to mention here that measures have been taken by the NCOC to expedite the Covid vaccination in the country.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Workers badly hit -

The pandemic has pushed over 100 million more workers into poverty, the UN's International Labour Organization said, with incomes slashed and 23 million fewer jobs.

- Covax aid falls short -

The Covax vaccine sharing programme for poorer countries has got another $2.4 billion from donors but it is still not enough to fight the pandemic, it says.

- S.Africa contracts scandal -

Dozens of South African government officials face prosecution in a scandal over the awarding of coronavirus contracts worth around $1 billion.

- Pre-teens to get jab -

France and Israel are to start vaccinating children from age 12 this month but the Jewish state will limit jabs for now to those aged 12 to 15. 

- Delta variant -

The World Health Organization says one strain of a variant first detected in India -- now officially dubbed the "Delta variant" -- is considered "of concern" while two other strains have been downgraded.

- Polisario leader leaves Spain -

The leader of Western Sahara's Polisario independence movement, whose treatment for Covid in a Spanish hospital sparked a diplomatic row with Morocco, has left for Algeria, Madrid said.

- Melbourne extends lockdown -

The five million residents of Australia's second-largest city are ordered to remain in lockdown for another week, as authorities try to stamp out a quick-spreading virus strain they describe as an "absolute beast". 

- Upping Moderna production -

Swiss firm Lonza says it will open a new production line in the Netherlands to make ingredients for Moderna's vaccine, which will help in churning out hundreds of millions more jabs a year.

- Stay away Scots fans -

Scotland fans should only travel to London for their Euro 2020 clash with old enemy England on June 18 if they have tickets or a safe place to watch the match, authorities say. 

- Vietnam flights -

International flights to Vietnam's two biggest cities are to resume, officials say, reversing a short-lived ban imposed over fears of a new wave.

- Nearly 3.7 million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 3,681,985 people worldwide since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data. 

The US is the worst-affected country with 595,213 deaths, followed by Brazil with 465,199, India with 335,102, Mexico with 227,840, Peru with 184,507 and Britain with 127,782.

The figures are based on reports by health authorities in each country, but do not take into account upward revisions carried out later by statistical bodies. 

The WHO says up to three times more people have died directly or indirectly due to the pandemic than official figures suggest.

With inputs from AFP.