Pakistan reported another uptick in coronavirus fatalities as all indicators nudging upwards with the country registering 48 deaths and 6,377 infections during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the statistics released by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

As per the latest NCOC data, after the addition of 48 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 29,420 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,448,663 after adding the fresh 6,377 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), 64,121 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio climbed up to 9.94 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 1,618.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1489404310085640192

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 4,566 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,317,385. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 101,858.

As many as 547,920 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 485,810 in Punjab, 199,195 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 130,373 in Islamabad, 34,734 in Balochistan, 39,894 in Azad Kashmir and 10,837 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,219 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,869 in Sindh, 6,031 in KP, 983 in Islamabad, 761 in Azad Kashmir, 368 in Balochistan and 189 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- 'Period of tranquility' -

Europe could soon enter a "long period of tranquility" despite the Omicron variant due to high vaccination rates and the end of the northern hemisphere winter, the World Health Organization says.

- No Russian lockdown -

President Vladimir Putin says there will be "no lockdown" in Russia, and some restrictions may even be eased, despite the country facing a steep surge in Covid-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant.

- Sweden to lift rules -

Sweden will lift most of its restrictions next Wednesday as the pandemic enters a "whole new phase", the authorities say.

- One in three adults -

Every third adult in Denmark is believed to have had Covid-19 since November when cases began to surge, almost double the official rate, health authorities say.

- Africa pressed on jabs -

Africa must boost the vaccination rate against Covid-19 "six times" to reach the target of 70 percent vaccine coverage set for the end of the first half of 2022, the WHO says.

- Origins probe call -

Just hours before the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony, a group of international scientists demands that China stop blocking an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19.

- German Olympics team hit -

Germany's Winter Olympics team says it has been hit by an outbreak of Covid-19 on the eve of the Games, with six cases confirmed upon arrival in Beijing.

- Bolsonaro backs podcaster -

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro tweets his support for American podcast host Joe Rogan, whose spreading of disinformation about Covid-19 has caused controversy on streaming service Spotify.

- Britain approves fifth vaccine -

Britain approves the Novavax anti-Covid vaccine, bringing to five the number of jabs at the country's disposal.

- Boosters for teens -

The EU's medicines regulator says it will soon rule on an application to approve Pfizer/BionTech's Covid-19 booster shots for teens aged 16 and 17, with younger ages expected to follow.

- African mRNA vaccine -

The UN-backed global Medicines Patent Pool signs a 39-million-euro ($45 million) grant with South African biotech firm Afrigen to fund work on new mRNA Covid jabs.

- Roche predicts tests slowdown -

Swiss pharma giant Roche says it remains prudent about the profit outlook in 2022 as it expects sales of Covid-19 tests and treatments to begin dropping.

- Nearly 5.7 million dead -

Coronavirus has killed at least 5,698,322 million people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Thursday.

The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 894,316, followed by Brazil with 628,960 and India on 498,983.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

With inputs from AFP.