As the spread of Covid-19 Omicron variant picked up pace in Pakistan so did the number of everyday cases as the country recorded nearly 1,100 infections during the last 24 hours (Wednesday), reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday morning, there were 1,085 new infections and five deaths in the country during the last 24 hours (Wednesday).

The latest figures released by the NCOC suggested that after the addition of five new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,955 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,299,848 after adding the fresh 1,085 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Wednesday), 46,585 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 2.32 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 636.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1478895167855804428

During the last 24 hours (Wednesday), as many as 247 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,257,847. As of Thursday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 13,046.

As many as 484,226 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 446,300 in Punjab, 181,573 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108,984 in Islamabad, 33,654 in Balochistan, 34,682 in Azad Kashmir and 10,429 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,076 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,676 in Sindh, 5,938 in KP, 967 in Islamabad, 746 in Azad Kashmir, 366 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- England eases travel rules -

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces changes to Covid rules for travel to England, imposed after the highly contagious Omicron Covid variant spread, scrapping the need for pre-departure tests and quarantine on arrival until the traveller has tested negative.

- Record after record -

More than one in 20 people in Britain, or an estimated 3.7 million people, had Covid-19 in the last week of 2021, the highest infection rate recorded during the pandemic, official data shows.

France also declares a record 335,000 new daily cases, according to Health Minister Olivier Veran.

And the Netherlands and Israel record their highest number of daily cases, with 24,590 and 12,000 respectively.

- Hong Kong bans flights -

Hong Kong bans flights from eight countries including Britain, the United States, France, India and Australia from Saturday and shutters bars, gyms and restaurants in the evening after the Omicron variant is detected in the city.

- Macron riles unjabbed -

French President Emmanuel Macron is at the centre of a political furore after saying his vaccine strategy is to "piss off" the unvaccinated by restricting their social lives until they get jabbed.

- Djokovic hits Open hurdle - 

Serb tennis star Novak Djokovic gets stuck at Melbourne airport over a visa snag after sparking anger over his medical exemption that will allow him to defend his Open title without being vaccinated.

- Cyprus clamps down -

Cypriot authorities announce stricter controls on social gatherings to tackle the world's worst Covid-19 infection rate per capita.

- Czech tests imposed -

All Czech employees will have to undergo antigen tests twice a week from January 17 as the Omicron strain of Covid-19 is expected to spread.

- Catalonia curfew extended -

A Spanish court extends by two weeks the nighttime curfew in place in most of the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia.

- Outdoors masks for Romania -

Romania reimposes the wearing of surgical masks outdoors, the number of daily cases having tripled since the beginning of 2022.

- Omicron hits Ryanair -

European airline giant Ryanair announces a seven-percent fall in passenger traffic last month as the Omicron variant triggered restrictions that hit the key Christmas travel season.

- Liverpool, Bayern hit -

Liverpool's League Cup semi-final first-leg match against Arsenal on Thursday is postponed due to a "severe outbreak" of coronavirus cases at the club, while Bayern Munich's first Bundesliga match of 2022 is also in doubt.

- More than 5.4 million dead -

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,456,207 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Wednesday.

The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 830,284, followed by Brazil with 619,384, India 482,551 and Russia 313,015.

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

With inputs from AFP.