Pakistan has recorded 56 more deaths from coronavirus and 1,165 new infections during the last 24 hours (Tuesday), showed the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday morning.
After the addition of fresh 1,165 infections, the number of total positive cases in the country has surged to 565,989 and the countrywide tally of fatalities has jumped to 12,436.
As usual, Sindh remained the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

So far 254,286 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 165,200 in Punjab, 70,123 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 42,921 in Islamabad, 18,954 in Balochistan, 9,562 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,943 in Gilgit Baltistan.

As many as 5,114 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 4,244 in Sindh, 2,007 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 486 in Islamabad, 284 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 199 in Balochistan and 102 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Pakistan has so far conducted 8,531,218 coronavirus tests and 33,196 during the last 24 hours (Tuesday). As many as 528,545 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 1,662 patients are in critical condition.

Global developments
These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- J&J seeks EU nod -
Johnson & Johnson has applied for authorisation for its coronavirus vaccine in the European Union, with a decision possible by the middle of March, the European Medicines Agency says.

- Curfew controversy -
A Dutch court backs a case brought by Virus Truth, a group which campaigns against coronavirus restrictions, and orders the government to immediately lift a nationwide curfew that sparked the worst riots in the Netherlands for decades.

The Dutch government challenges the decision, and the court of appeal starts hearing the case at 1500 GMT.

- Biden goes head on -
US President Joe Biden sidesteps a divided Congress and seeks support for his $1.9-trillion economic rescue package from ordinary voters at a televised town hall meeting in Wisconsin, his first presidential trip.

- Chinese jab for Hungary -
Hungary become the first EU country to receive China's Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine as an initial batch of 550,000 doses arrives in Budapest.

- Back to school in Scotland -
Scotland will start allowing children back to school from next week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that schools in England are to remain shut at least until March 8.

- Vaccine hack -
North Korean hackers tried to break into the computer systems of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in a search for information on its vaccine and treatment technology, South Korea's spy agency says, according to reports.

- Cautious Japan -
Japan outlines a cautious vaccine rollout a day before jabs begin, with the minister overseeing the process admitting he has "no idea" how much of the population will be vaccinated by this summer's Olympics.

- Dutch economy in record hit -  
The Dutch economy, the eurozone's fifth-biggest, shrank 3.8 percent in 2020, its sharpest contraction ever measured, even though the country had far more relaxed coronavirus rules than most of its European counterparts.

- South Africa passes on jabs -
South Africa offers its doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to the African Union after scrapping their use due to concerns they fail to counter the new variant discovered in the country.

- More than 180 million doses -
At least 180.86 million anti-Covid vaccine doses have been injected in 96 countries and territories, according to an AFP count based on official sources on Tuesday at 1800 GMT.

- More than 2.4 million deaths - 
The virus has caused at least 2,408,243 deaths since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Tuesday.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 486,332 deaths followed by Brazil with 239,773, Mexico with 174,657, India with 155,813 and Britain with 117,396.

 - New Zealand ends snap lockdown -

New Zealand lifted a snap Covid-19 lockdown in its largest city Auckland on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressing confidence the outbreak was contained.

The stay-at-home order for the city of almost two million was issued on Sunday after three community cases emerged, the first lockdown in Auckland for almost six months.

Ardern said close contacts of the three cases, all members of the same family, had all since tested negative, with the exception of three people now isolation. "(It appears) that we don't have a widespread outbreak, but rather a small chain of transmission which is manageable via our normal contact tracing and testing procedures," she said. Ardern said the Auckland lockdown would end late Wednesday, although the city would remain at virus alert level two, which restricts numbers at public gatherings to 100 and requires face masks on public transport.

- Mexico infections surpass two million -

The number of cases of Covid-19 in Mexico topped the two million mark, with almost 176,000 dead, the health ministry said late Tuesday. In the previous 24 hours, the country recorded another 8,683 new infections, bringing the total to 2,004,575 confirmed cases, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry recorded 1,329 new deaths in the same period, bringing the total toll to 175,986 since the first case was diagnosed on February 27, 2020. According to an AFP count based on official figures, Mexico is the 13th worst-hit country in the world, but experts have warned the actual case total there could be higher thanks to less testing than many other countries.

With inputs from AFP.