Another 31 people died and 2,327 more were infected from coronavirus during the last 24 hours (Thursday) across Pakistan, 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 31 new deaths the toll has now soared to 22,720 whereas the total number of cases has now reached 983,719 after adding 2,327 new ones.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1415900526449934339

During the past 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 956 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 917,329. As of Friday, the total count of active cases was recorded at 43,670 whereas the positivity ratio soared to 6.1 percent.

As many as 352,472 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 349,475 in Punjab, 139,960 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 84,266 in Islamabad, 28,704 in Balochistan, 21,632 in Azad Kashmir and 7,210 in Gilgit Baltistan.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1415904265332199427

Moreover, 10,856 individuals have so far lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 5,672 in Sindh, 4,377 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 787 in Islamabad, 597 in Azad Kashmir, 317 in Balochistan and 113 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Covid infections rise -

New Covid-19 infections have been on the rise across the world since late June, topping half a million on Tuesday and Wednesday, increases not seen since May 28, according to an AFP tally.

- WHO warning -

The World Health Organization's emergency committee warns that new concerning variants of Covid-19 are expected to spread around the world, saying "the pandemic is nowhere near finished".

- Origin probe -

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls for China to cooperate better in the next phase of investigations into the origins of the pandemic, demanding more access to raw data.

- African deaths surge -

Coronavirus-linked deaths in Africa surged by 43 percent to 6,273 in the week of July 5-11, driven by a lack of intensive-care beds and oxygen, the WHO says.

- Australia lockdown spreads -

Australia's bid to quash a fast-spreading outbreak will see its second largest city Melbourne lock down, bringing the total number of Australians under stay-at-home orders to around 12 million.

- Dhaka exodus -

Hundreds of thousands of people flee the Bangladesh capital after authorities lift a coronavirus lockdown for the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival despite soaring infections and deaths.

- Pre-hajj arrests -

Saudi Arabia arrests more than 120 people suspected of supplying or procuring fraudulent coronavirus vaccine and test certificates, two days before around 60,000 Saudi residents with vaccine certificates join this year's hajj.

- Olympics rules 'working' -

Olympics chief Thomas Bach insists the Tokyo Games anti-virus rules "are working", as the Japanese capital records its highest number of new infections since January.

- Jabs for Rohingya -

Bangladesh is to start giving coronavirus vaccinations to some of the 850,000 Rohingya refugees who fled across the border from Myanmar, officials say.

- HIV risk factor -

HIV is a "significant" risk factor for severe Covid-19, the WHO says in research that shows a major increase in deaths among patients who have the virus that causes AIDS and are also hospitalised with Covid-19.

- Students sent home -

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) sends residential students home and says it will suspend physical attendance of lectures as fears grow over a new wave of coronavirus in Africa's most populous nation.

- Boxing title -

Britain's Tyson Fury tests positive for Covid-19 and his heavyweight boxing title showdown with Deontay Wilder is postponed from July 24 to October 9, promoters announce.

- Four million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 4,061,908 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 608,115 deaths, followed by Brazil with 537,394, India with 411,989, Mexico with 235,507, and Peru with 194,752.

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

With inputs from AFP.