The daily coronavirus cases inched up further in Pakistan during the last 24 hours (Thursday) as the country registered 1,737 infections and 27 deaths, showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

As per the latest NCOC figures, with the addition of 27 new deaths the toll has now soared to 22,520 whereas the total number of cases has now reached 969,476 after adding 1,737 new ones.

During the past 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 774 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 911,383. As of Friday, the total count of active cases was recorded at 35,575 and the positivity ratio stood at 3.65 percent.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1413307899695226890

As many as 344,223 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 347,553 in Punjab, 139,008 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 83,400 in Islamabad, 27,781 in Balochistan, 20,811 in Azad Kashmir and 6,700 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Moreover, 10,805 individuals have so far lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 5,566 in Sindh, 4,348 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 782 in Islamabad, 591 in Azad Kashmir, 317 in Balochistan and 111 in Gilgit Baltistan.

 GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Olympics without fans - 

Spectators will be banned from Olympic venues in Tokyo, Japan's Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa announces, meaning the Games will happen mostly behind closed doors.

The announcement comes hours after Japan's government declares a state of virus emergency, as infections rise in the capital. 

- 'Worst to come' in Africa -

Africa has just lived through the most disastrous week in its history of pandemics but the worst is yet to come, because the third wave keeps spreading, warns the World Health Organization's regional director Matshidiso Moeti.

- Tunisia 'catastrophic' -

Tunisia's health system has "collapsed" under the weight of the Covid-19 pandemic, the health ministry spokeswoman says, call the virus's affect on the country "catastrophic", after on Tuesday the country recorded its worst daily toll from the virus.

- England eases quarantine -

UK citizens returning to England from most European countries will from July 19 no longer have to self-quarantine if they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the government announces.

- Spain, Portugal warning -

France warns nationals against travelling to Spain or Portugal on holiday because of a spike in cases caused by the Delta variant.

- Masked at Cannes -

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux insists  festival-goers keep their masks on after a flurry of complaints over stars smooching on the red carpet and letting their face coverings slip in the cinemas.

- Luxembourg PM -

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel leaves hospital after treatment for Covid-19 and will resume work from home this week, officials say.

- Euro 2020 link -

Watching Euro 2020 football matches could explain why men are catching coronavirus at a faster rate than women in England, Market research company Ipsos MORI and Imperial College London say.

- Four million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 4,004,966 people since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 606,218 deaths, followed by Brazil with 528,540, India with 405,028, Mexico with 234,192 and Peru 193,743.

The World Health Organization says up to three times more people have died directly or indirectly due to the pandemic than official figures suggest.

With inputs from AFP.