As the new wave of Covid-19 pandemic continued to persist, Pakistan has recorded another 39 deaths and 3,498 infections during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

As per the latest NCOC data, after the addition of 39 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 29,687 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,477,573 after adding the fresh 3,498 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), 58,077 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 6.02 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 1,663.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1491941832443711488

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 5,761 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,365,518. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 82,368.

As many as 555,920 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 493,478 in Punjab, 207,820 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 132,711 in Islamabad, 34,986 in Balochistan, 41,584 in Azad Kashmir and 11,074 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,322 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,958 in Sindh, 6,087 in KP, 995 in Islamabad, 766 in Azad Kashmir, 370 in Balochistan and 189 in Gilgit Baltistan.

 

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Canada truckers protest widens -
Trucker-led protests against coronavirus restrictions in Canada shut down a new US border crossing, as copycat movements gather steam as far afield as Europe and New Zealand.

- Paris, Brussels, Vienna ban convoys -
French police warn they will prevent so-called "Freedom Convoys" from blockading Paris, as protesters against Covid rules begin to drive towards the capital.

Belgian authorities say they will block similar protests in the Belgian capital next week, while Austrian police also announce a ban as several hundred vehicles prepare to converge Friday in central Vienna.

- AstraZeneca warns on sales -
AstraZeneca warns that coronavirus product sales and profit margins will drop this year as the pandemic recedes and after record-high group revenue in 2021.

- French anti-vax Nobel winner dies -
French researcher Luc Montagnier, who shared the Nobel medicine prize for his vital early discoveries on AIDS, and later became a scientific pariah and hero for French anti-vaxxers, dies aged 89.

- Prince Charles positive, again -
Prince Charles is isolating after testing positive for coronavirus for the second time, his office says.

- Former UK leader lambasts Johnson -
British ex-premier John Major accuses Prime Minister Boris Johnson of breaking Covid laws and fostering public "contempt" for politics as police prepare to grill Downing Street party-goers.

- Spain drops outdoor mask rule -
Spain drops the mandatory use of face masks outdoors, though many people keep them on in Madrid, with face coverings now an everyday staple.

- Berlinale begins despite spike -
The Berlin film festival, Europe's first top movie gathering of the year, returns as a live event in German capital despite the country dealing with record daily infections.

- Over 5.7 million deaths -
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,775,516 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Thursday.

The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 912,255, followed by Brazil with 635,074, India 506,520 and Russia 338,091.

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

 

With inputs from AFP.