Pakistan posts 55 deaths, over 3,200 new Covid-19 cases

Pakistan recorded 3,262 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours (Thursday), raising the overall number to 410,072, showed the latest figures released by National Command and Operation Centre on Friday morning.

The same period (Thursday) also saw 55 people dying of the virus with most of these deaths (24) again recorded in Punjab. It was followed by 15 in Sindh, 11 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three in Islamabad and one each in Balochistan and Azad Kashmir. It means the death toll has now jumped to 8,260.

As far as the distribution of new cases is concerned, Sindh, Punjab, Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued to be most affected with the respective figures of 1,615, 670, 474 and 345.

Meanwhile, situation is improving a bit in Azad Kashmir where less than 90 people have been diagnosed with the virus for the last four consecutive days.

With the addition of latest numbers, the coronavirus pandemic-related figures for different regions currently stand at:

Sindh 179, 240 cases and 2,983 deaths, Punjab 121,753 cases and 3,115 deaths, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 48,264 cases and 1,389 deaths, Islamabad 31,639 cases and 332 deaths, Balochistan 17,333 cases and 169 deaths, Azad Kashmir 7,151 cases and 174 deaths, Gilgit Baltistan 4,692 cases and 97 deaths.

But there is some good news too: more people recovered from the infection when compared with the new cases reported during the last 24 hours. The total has reached 350,305 after the addition of 3,354.

As a result, the number of active coronavirus cases witnessed a slight decrease to 51,507 from the previous day’s level of 51,654.

Similarly, 2,395 coronavirus patients are currently in a critical condition against 2,469 – the number reported on the previous day. However, 331 of them are placed on ventilators. 

Also on Thursday, 44,627 more tests were administered in different parts of the country as part of the ongoing efforts to identify, isolate and trace new coronavirus cases to control the infection rate, increasing the overall number to 5,672,166.

Global virus toll passes 1.5 million

The world passed the grim milestone of 1.5 million coronavirus deaths, as several nations planned to deliver much hoped-for vaccines early next year to break the cycle of lockdowns and restrictions.

US President-elect Joe Biden said that on his first day in office he would ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days to help reduce transmission of the virus that is again surging in the country with the world's highest number of deaths and infections.

"I'm going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask -- not forever," Biden said in excerpts of an interview to be broadcast on CNN.

But even as the latest positive news about a vaccine was announced, with the Moderna candidate showing it confers immunity for at least three months, several countries marked new Covid-19 records.

The US, for instance, posted an all-time high of more than 210,000 new cases in a 24-hour stretch to Thursday evening, meanwhile notching more than 2,900 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

And Italy registered 993 deaths, topping its previous record of 969 earlier in the year when it was the first European country to be affected by the pandemic.

To build trust in vaccines after they are approved, the 78-year-old Biden said he was willing to be vaccinated in public -- following up on similar commitments from former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Biden also used the interview to say he had asked the government's top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci to join his Covid team and serve as a chief medical adviser.

But in a sign of the difficult work ahead, California announced new statewide bans on gatherings and non-essential activities, as hospitals in the nation's most populous state face being overwhelmed.

- Vaxx hack -

The pandemic is showing little sign of slowing, with more than 10,000 new deaths recorded worldwide every day since November 24 -- a rate never reached before, according to an AFP tally.

As the world tires of economically crippling restrictions, attention has turned to the race for a vaccine.

Britain on Wednesday became the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use, piling pressure on other countries to swiftly follow suit.

But Fauci said Britain "rushed" its approval process. "In all fairness to so many of my UK friends, you know, they kind of ran around the corner of the marathon and joined it in the last mile," he told CBS news.

He later walked back his comments, saying he had "a great deal of confidence in what the UK does both scientifically and from a regulator standpoint."

Also on Thursday, a study showed that the Moderna vaccine, which was recently demonstrated to have 94 percent efficacy, causes the immune system to produce potent antibodies that endure for at least three months.

In anticipation of such vaccines being approved, France announced that its vaccinations will be free and begin in January for one million elderly in retirement homes, February for 14 million at-risk people and spring for the rest of the population.

France was also mourning the latest high-profile figure to succumb to Covid-19, former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who died at the age of 94.

Belgium's government also said it intends to start vaccinating its most vulnerable in January.

But the raised hopes didn't only garner the attention of governments -- IBM said Thursday that hackers are targeting the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain.

The tech giant said it was "unclear" if a series of cyberattacks it uncovered against companies involved in the effort to distribute doses around the world had been successful.

IBM could not identify who was behind the attacks, but said that the precision of the operation signals "the potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft".

- 'Vaccine cannot undo damage' -

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that even if vaccines are quickly approved, the world would still be fighting the pandemic's aftershocks.

"Let's not fool ourselves. A vaccine cannot undo damage that will stretch across years, even decades to come," Guterres said while opening a special UN summit on the virus. 

Guterres reiterated his call that vaccines be considered a "global public good" that are shared around the world.

More than 180 countries have joined Covax, a global collaboration initiative by the World Health Organization to work with manufacturers to distribute vaccines equitably.

Latest global developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- 1.5 million deaths -

The world death toll from Covid-19 passes 1.5 million from nearly 65 million cases, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Thursday at 1845 GMT.

There have been 1,500,038 fatalities from 64,774,705 cases since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China in late December 2019.

The worst affected region is Latin America and the Caribbean with 452,263 deaths, followed by Europe (430,060) and the United States and Canada (286,946).

- US presidents to take vaccine -

Former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are volunteering to take a coronavirus vaccine on camera if it will help promote public confidence.

- OPEC accord  - 

OPEC agrees to increase production from January, but by less than anticipated in a previous accord, after the second wave of the pandemic dashed hopes of a rapid recovery for the economy and for oil demand.

- Italy toll record -

Italy records its highest daily death toll from coronavirus with 993 fatalities in the last 24 hours, the highest since March 27, when it was under national lockdown.

- Iran cases pass one million -

Iran says its novel coronavirus caseload surpassed one million, as the authorities consider easing restrictions in many parts of the Middle East's hardest hit country.

- Free vaccinations in France -

Vaccinations against Covid-19 in France will be free, the government announces. They will begin in January for one million elderly in retirement homes, February for 14 million at-risk people and spring for the rest of the population.

- Swedish classes online -

Sweden closes high schools for a month with students to instead take classes online, as coronavirus cases soar in the country which famously opted for a "softer" approach to curbing the spread of Covid-19. 

- German aid 'not endless' -

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier warns that the traditionally frugal government's generous support for pandemic-hit firms could not go on "endlessly", as calls grow louder for a return to more fiscal prudence.

- English football lifeline -

The Premier League and the English Football League agree a £250-million ($337 million, 277 million euros) rescue package for lower-league clubs struggling to survive during the pandemic.

With inputs from AFP.