The everyday coronavirus infections in Pakistan kept hovering around 50 as the country registered another 55 Covid-19 cases and no death during the last 24 hours (Monday), showed the statistics released by the National Institute of Health Pakistan on Tuesday morning.

As per the latest NIH data, the death toll remained the same at 30,379, whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,530,814 after adding the fresh 50 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Monday), 11,313 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.44 percent. The number of patients in critical care was recorded at 57.

https://twitter.com/NIH_Pakistan/status/1533980281132265473 

During the last 24 hours (Monday), another 36 people recovered from the Covid-19 and the number of total recoveries now stood at 1,497,708. As of Tuesday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 2,727.

As many as 577,702 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 507,336 in Punjab, 219,705 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 135,478 in Islamabad, 35,503 in Balochistan, 43,340 in Azad Kashmir and 11,750 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 13,564 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,106 in Sindh, 6,324 in KP, 1,024 in Islamabad, 792 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

India logs another 3,714 Covid infections

India added 3,714 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,31,85,049, while the active cases increased to 26,976, according to the Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
The death toll climbed to 5,24,708 with seven fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.06 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.72 per cent, the ministry said.
An increase of 1,194 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.21 percent while the weekly positivity rate was 0.97 percent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,26,33,365, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent.

Beijing lifts Covid dine-in curbs

After staying home for more than a month, Chen Chunmei joined a long line of customers at a popular Beijing restaurant where diners tucked into massive bowls of crayfish following an easing of Covid restrictions in the Chinese capital.

Last month, the city of 22 million stopped people from eating out, closed gyms and sealed off dozens of subway stations to try and stamp out a coronavirus outbreak.

The curbs are now finally easing, including at restaurants.

"I'm very excited, mainly because we'd been sealed off for so long," Chen told AFP.

"I've been ordering takeout or cooking every day. I really wanted to come out for meals."

At its peak, Beijing logged just dozens of infections every day.

But authorities in China are committed to a zero-Covid strategy -- using rapid lockdowns, mass testing and severe travel restrictions to eliminate even the smallest outbreaks.

Chen, 28, said her compound was initially locked down for two weeks but when she was finally allowed to leave, the nearby subway station was closed.

"Since then, I'd been staying at home," she said. "At first I thought working from home was pretty good but after a while, I got bored."

As Beijing's case numbers fell -- it reported just two local asymptomatic infections on Tuesday -- authorities told residents they could return to work this week, while schools would reopen from June 13.

The Universal Beijing resort said it will reopen on June 15, while Chinese media reported that cinemas and gyms will run at 75 percent capacity from this week in most areas.

Dine-ins at restaurants have also mostly resumed, although two districts still have restrictions in place because of recent Covid cases.

- 'Losing money' -

While authorities have persisted with their zero-Covid policy, its economic costs have piled up.

Businesses in Beijing told AFP that the last month bit a large chunk out of their earnings.

"Our revenue for the month of May fell around 65 percent on-year," said Zhang Shengtao, operations director at Beijing Huda Catering.

He added that staff income at the restaurant chain, which employs nearly 800 people, also dropped by around 30 percent last month.

Some breathed a sigh of relief on Monday as restrictions on dining-in were eased.

"I've been longing for the resumption," said Wu Ziwen, a manager at restaurant chain Nanjing Dapaidang.

"There's no doubt that we were losing money," he told AFP, adding that the outlet has been relying on food deliveries to survive.

The dine-in resumption in Beijing is still partial, however: due to Covid controls, his restaurant can only accept up to 50 percent of regular capacity "even if customers flood in," Wu said.

Beijing is requiring people to produce a negative test done within three days if they want to take public transport or enter office buildings.

The outbreak in the capital has also kept visitors like 33-year-old Sun Tao from returning home to Shanxi.

The dine-in relaxation gave him some respite.

"I'm nervous and alert," said Sun, who ventured out of the hotel where he was staying with his wife on Monday evening and waited for a table at a restaurant.

"But I also wanted to feel my tastebuds again."

With inputs from AFP.