Pakistan records drop in coronavirus deaths, surge in infections

Pakistan has recorded a drop in coronavirus deaths but a surge in infections during the last 24 hours (Friday), showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning.

According to the statistics, another 38 people have lost their lives to the Covid-19 whereas 1,714 fresh cases have reported during the last 24 hours (Friday).

As per the latest NCOC figures, with the addition of 38 more fatalities the death toll has surged to 13,166 while the number of total confirmed cases stood at 588,728, after adding 1,714 new infections.

During the past 24 hours (Friday), 1,441 patients have recovered from the Covid-19 while the number of total recoveries stood at 558,210. The total count of active cases across Pakistan was 17,352.

As many as 259,392 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 175,964 in Punjab, 73,515 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 45,329 in Islamabad, 19,106 in Balochistan, 10,464 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,958 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 5,534 individuals have lost their lives to the coronavirus in Punjab, 4,411 in Sindh, 2,104 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 506 in Islamabad, 309 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 200 in Balochistan and 102 in Gilgit Baltistan.

A total of 38,200 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Friday) while 9,173,593 samples have been tested so far.

Global developments

These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Origin probe -

The international investigation into the pandemic's origins in China will publish its report in the week of March 15, the World Health Organization says.

- Canada clears J&J -

Canada authorises the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, adding the shot to its approved list alongside AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Ottawa has ordered up to 38 million doses of the single shot jab.

- Italy defends vaccine export ban -

Italy defends blocking a shipment of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to Australia, saying such action towards less affected countries was legitimate while it was facing "unacceptable" delivery delays.

- Denmark clears AstraZeneca jab -

Denmark becomes the latest European country to approve the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 65, citing evidence from a study on the vaccine in Scotland.

- Japan extends emergency -

Japan extends a virus state of emergency in the Tokyo area by two weeks, less than five months before the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics.

- Auckland lockdown to end - 

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces the end of a lockdown in the country's largest city Auckland from early Sunday, as authorities say they are confident that a virus cluster has been contained.

- Moscow eases restrictions further -

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin ends mandatory stay-at-home orders for over-65s and people with chronic illnesses, lifting one of the Russian capital's last remaining coronavirus restrictions.

- Italy, Serbia tighten curbs -

Italy adds the southern region of Campania, which includes Naples, to its "red" zones It joins the regions of Basilicata and Molise in the highest-risk level, where bars and restaurants are closed as well as all schools including nurseries and museums. 

And Serbia says it will shut down all but essential businesses over the weekend to combat a spike in new coronavirus cases.

- US jobs progress -

The United States added 379,000 jobs last month, almost double expectations, the vast majority in the leisure and hospitality sector, including the bars and restaurants that were the first to close amid Covid restrictions nearly a year ago.

- Kenya and Rwanda jabs -

Kenya begins offering healthcare workers the AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covax scheme.

Rwanda also begins its vaccination campaign in earnest after an initial 1,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine were rolled out to some health workers in February.

- 2.57 million dead -

The virus has killed at least 2,570,291 people since it emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

The US is the worst-affected country with 520,356 deaths, followed by Brazil (260,970), Mexico (188,866), India (157,548) and Britain (124,025).

The number of deaths due to Covid-19 dropped by seven percent around the world over the past week, although the rate of new cases remained stable, according to AFP's specialised database.

With inputs from AFP.