Authorities in Pakistan reported 59 deaths and 1,947 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 35,073 tests during the past 24 hours (Monday), showed National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) figures released on Tuesday morning.

The total confirmed cases in Pakistan stand at 490,476 with the number of tests 6,884,940.

Punjab has so far recorded 141,393 cases, Sindh 219,452, Balochistan 18,254, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 9,729, Islamabad 38,395, Gilgit Baltistan 4,870 and Azad Kashmir 8,383.

After the addition of 59 new fatalities, the total number in Pakistan has risen to 10,409 while the recoveries has soared to 444,360.

There are currently 35,707 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 2,219 of them are in critical condition.

Punjab

On Tuesday, authorities reported 36 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 4,160. The province now has 141,393 confirmed cases; it reported 679 new infections after conducting 16,203 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.19 percent. There were 1,096 new recoveries recorded, leaving 126,225 fully recovered, and 11,008 active cases of the virus.

Sindh

Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 219,452; it reported 855 new infections on Tuesday after conducting 10,165 tests, a positivity ratio of 8.41 percent. The province reported 12 new deaths, raising toll to 3,623, while its recoveries rose by 440 to 197,870. Overall, the province now has 17,959 active cases of the novel coronavirus.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

In the past 24 hours, the provincial government has recorded 245 new infections after conducting 4,197 tests, a positivity ratio of 5.84 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 59,729. It recorded 8 new deaths, raising toll to 1,683, while its recoveries have risen by 149 to 54,668. There are currently 3,378 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Balochistan

The province on Tuesday raised its confirmed cases to 18,254 with 7 new infections after conducting 122 tests, a positivity ratio of 5.74 percent. There were no deaths and 17 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 185 fatalities and 17,829 fully recovered. There are now 240 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Islamabad

Islamabad on Tuesday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 132 to 38,395 after conducting 3,713 tests; a positivity ratio of 3.55 percent. There were no deaths and 160 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 428 casualties; 35,253 recovered; and 2,714 active cases.

Gilgit Baltistan

Gilgit Baltistan reported three new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday after conducting 357 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.84 percent. It now has 4,870 confirmed cases. The region reported no deaths and 1 recovery, leaving 101 fatalities and 4,717 fully recovered people. There are currently 52 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.

Azad Kashmir

   In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 26 to 8,383 after conducting 316 tests, a positivity ratio of 8.23 percent. There were three deaths and 40 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 229 fatalities and 7,798 fully recovered. It now has 356 active cases of COVID-19.

Global developments
Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- England, Scotland locked down -
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces an England-wide lockdown, including the closure of primary and secondary schools, from Wednesday possibly until mid-February, amid surging cases due to the new coronavirus variant.

He announces the measures hours after Scotland decreed its own stay-at-home lockdown from midnight (0000 GMT) on Tuesday.

- First Oxford/AstraZeneca jab -
An 82-year-old man from Oxford in Britain becomes the first person in the world to receive AstraZeneca and Oxford University's new Covid jab outside a clinical trial.

The shot is more than six times cheaper than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and can be stored in normal fridges.

- Moderna must wait -
The European Medicines Agency says it had not reached a decision on whether to authorise US firm Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, adding that it will resume discussions on Wednesday.

- Under pressure -
France's government vows to ramp up its vaccination campaign against Covid-19 after inoculating just a few hundred people in the first week, compared with the 200,000 people immunised in Germany, after the EU-wide rollout began a week ago.

And the Netherlands brings forward its first coronavirus jabs by two days to Wednesday, as pressure grows on the government in the last EU country to launch its vaccination campaign.

- Curfew for Lebanon -
The Lebanese government announces tightened restrictions from Thursday through January, which the National News Agency says include a 6:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew. The full list of measures is expected to be unveiled on Tuesday.

- Return to school in Kenya -
Millions of mask-wearing Kenyan pupils return to school for the first time since classes were dismissed 10 months earlier due to the pandemic.

- Getting serious in Japan -
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says he is considering declaring a state of emergency in the greater Tokyo area over a "very severe" third wave of cases in the country.

Speaking at his New Year press conference, Suga also says he hopes vaccinations will begin in Japan in late February.

- 1.84 million dead -          
The coronavirus has killed at least 1,843,631 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally on Monday based on official sources.

More than 85 million cases have been registered.

The US is the worst-affected country with 351,590 deaths, followed by Brazil with 196,018, India with 149,649 and Mexico with 127,213.

The tallies are based on daily tolls provided by health authorities in each country and exclude later re-evaluations by statistical organisations, as has happened in Russia, Spain and Britain.