Pakistan has reported another nine deaths and 313 infections from the coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

As per the NCOC figures, after the addition of nine new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,812 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,288,366 after adding the fresh 313 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), a total of 42,978 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.72 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 758.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1469110624063922177

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 648 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,250,069. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 9,485.

As many as 477,466 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 443,747 in Punjab, 180,564 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108,042 in Islamabad, 33,522 in Balochistan, 34,600 in Azad Kashmir and 10,425 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,048 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,631 in Sindh, 5,879 in KP, 962 in Islamabad, 743 in Azad Kashmir, 363 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Omicron 'mostly mild' -
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) says that cases of Omicron so far appear to be "mostly mild", but cautions it is still investigating whether the variant could cause severe disease.

And the World Health Organization's (WHO) Africa branch says that in South Africa, which discovered the new variant last month, "severe cases remain low".

- No to jab hoarding: WHO -
The WHO says it remains unclear whether additional Covid-19 vaccine doses are needed to protect against Omicron, and urges wealthy countries to avoid hoarding the jabs.

- Booster guidance -
The EMA says it is "safe and effective" to issue booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines as early as three months after the initial course, down from previous guidance of six months.

- Scholz tackles pandemic -
Germany's new Chancellor Olaf Scholz sits down on his first day in office with regional leaders of the 16 states to discuss whether further curbs are needed to stop runaway Covid infections.

- EU budget rules call -
French President Emmanuel Macron says that the European Union should reconsider its strict budget deficit rules as governments spend heavily to save their economies from the impact of Covid restrictions.

- Russian experts for South Africa -
President Vladimir Putin says that Russia will dispatch virus specialists to South Africa to establish a Covid-19 lab there after the discovery of Omicron.

- Lebanese Omicron cases -
The Lebanese health ministry says that it has confirmed the country's first two cases of the Omicron variant in passengers from Africa tested upon arrival at the airport.

- Danish PM grilled on mink -
Denmark's prime minister insists she did not know her government's decision last year to cull all farmed minks nationwide over fears of a new coronavirus strain was unlawful, answering a parliamentary commission.

- UN chief ends isolation -
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tests negative for Covid-19 and ends two days of isolation prompted by exposure to a UN official with the coronavirus.

- US boosters for 16 and 17s -
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expands authorisation of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid booster to include 16- and 17-year-olds.

- Spurs clash off -
Tottenham Hotspur's Europa Conference League clash with Rennes is postponed after a severe virus outbreak decimates the Premier League club.

- More than 5.2 million dead - 
The coronavirus has killed at least 5,278,777 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Thursday. 

The US has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 793,228, followed by Brazil with 616,251, India with 474,111, Mexico with 295,894 and Russia with 286,004.

The countries with the most new deaths are the US with 1,745, followed by Russia with 1,181 and Poland with 561. 

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.