The single-day number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan continued to register steady growth as another 2,701 people were infected by the Covid-19 while 54 more patients died during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

As per the latest NCOC data, with the addition of 2,701 infections, the number of positive cases in Pakistan has now surged to 600,198. The nationwide tally of fatalities has also jumped to 13,430, after adding 54 more deaths.

As usual, Sindh remained the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Most numbers of casualties have been reported in Punjab.

As many as 260,661 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 182,576 in Punjab, 75,052 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19,171 in Balochistan, 46,963 in Islamabad, 10,816 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,959 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 5,698 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,452 in Sindh, 2,138 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 202 in Balochistan, 520 in Islamabad, 317 in Azad Kashmir and 103 in Gilgit Baltistan so far.

Pakistan has so far conducted 9,402,639 coronavirus tests and 41,133 during the last 24 hours (Thursday). As many as 568,065 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country so far whereas 1,709 patients were in critical condition.

Global developments

These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- AstraZeneca troubles -

The EU's drug regulator says European countries can keep using AstraZeneca's vaccine during an investigation into cases of blood clots that prompted Denmark, Norway and Iceland to suspend jabs, and Italy to halt a batch of the vaccines.

- EU clears J&J vaccine -

The EU authorises the use of US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson's one-shot coronavirus vaccine, and says it could vaccinate up to 200 million people with the jab this year.

- Biden's 'hope' address -

US President Joe Biden will give his first primetime television address to deliver a message of "hope" after Congress passed his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan.

- Pfizer 97 percent effective -

Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine offers more protection than earlier thought with effectiveness in preventing symptomatic disease reaching 97 percent, according to real-world evidence in Israel published by the pharmaceutical companies.

- France eases travel curbs -

France eases travel restrictions for seven countries outside the EU, including Britain, saying trips to and from them would no longer need to be justified by essential reasons.

- Greek tourism hopes -

Greece hopes to reopen for tourists in mid-May, thanks to an acceleration of its vaccination programme, a government official says.

- Famine threat -

Over 30 million people in more than three dozen countries are "just one step away" from a declaration of famine and the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change are increasing the threat, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says.

- Chinese jabs for Olympics -

Competitors at this year's Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games will be offered coronavirus vaccines bought from China, Olympic chief Thomas Bach announces.

- Ex presidents urge vaccination -

All the surviving former US presidents except Donald Trump -- namely Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama -- urge Americans in a video to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

- Cycling race hit -

The Paris-Nice cycling race will not finish in Nice as planned on Sunday and will be diverted because of a local coronavirus weekend lockdown in the Riviera resort, authorities say.

- 2.6 million dead -

At least 2,621,295 people have died of coronavirus around the world since the outbreak began in December 2019, an AFP tally from official sources showed on Thursday. 

The US is the worst-affected country with 529,263 deaths followed by Brazil (270,656), Mexico (192,488), India (158,189 and Britain (124,987).

 

With inputs from AFP.