The latest coronavirus wave appeared to be losing steam as the number of everyday infections dropped further with no fatality reported during the last 24 hours (Tuesday), showed the figures released by the National Institute of Health Pakistan on Wednesday morning.

As per the NIH data, the death toll in the country remained the same at 30,424 while the number of total infections now stood at 1,543,741 after adding the fresh 236 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Tuesday), 15,191 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio plummeted to 1.55 percent. The number of patients in critical care was recorded at 152.

The positivity ratio in Lahore was recorded at eight percent, followed by seven percent in Mardan, five percent in Mirpur and three percent in Islamabad.

https://twitter.com/NIH_Pakistan/status/1547026576713388032

During the last 24 hours (Tuesday), another 226 patients have recovered from the Covid-19 in Pakistan and the number of total recoveries now stood at 1,503,023. As of Wednesday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 10,294.

As many as 586,190 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 509,729 in Punjab, 220,328 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 136,670 in Islamabad, 35,616 in Balochistan, 43,438 in Azad Kashmir and 11,770 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 13,580 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,130 in Sindh, 6,325 in KP, 1,027 in Islamabad, 793 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

India records 16,906 fresh Covid cases, 45 deaths

India logged 16,906 new coronavirus infections pushing the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 4,36,69,850, according to the Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,25,519 with 45 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active Covid cases have increased to 1,32,457. The active cases comprise 0.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.49 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 1,414 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.

As Covid surges in US, health officials say vaccines remain key

Faced with a doubling of Covid hospitalizations in recent months, US health authorities reiterated the need Tuesday for vaccine vigilance to fight the pandemic, even as the jabs' immunity against new Omicron subvariants remains unclear.

The United States is recording some 5,100 coronavirus-related hospitalizations per day, "a doubling of hospital admissions since early May," Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky told a press briefing.

The increase is linked to the meteoric rise of the Omicron variant's BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages, which were first detected in April and which respectively represent 16 percent and 65 percent of the virus currently circulating in the United States.

While they do not appear to be more severe than previous variants, "we do know it to be more transmissible and more immune-evading," Walensky said, although she added that vaccination and booster effectiveness against severe illness and death likely remains high with the new variants.

"So staying up to date on your Covid-19 vaccines provides the best protection against severe outcomes," she said.

Despite the rise in cases, the new variants should not be allowed to cause panic or "disrupt our lives," President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci told the briefing.

While daily tolls have reduced substantially since the crisis peaked more than a year ago, the United States is still recording 300 to 350 deaths per day, an "unacceptable" number, Fauci said.

The country is seeing between 100,000 and 150,000 new reported cases daily, but the figure could be substantially underestimated due to the expansion in use of home Covid tests, whose results are often not reported to authorities.

With inputs from AFP.