Pakistan reported another 2,870 coronavirus cases and 40 deaths during the last 24 hours (Wednesday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday morning.

As per the latest NCOC data, after the addition of 40 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 29,917 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,494,293 after adding the fresh 2,870 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Wednesday), 51,677 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 5.55 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 1,495.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1494110757629345792

During the last 24 hours (Wednesday), as many as 4,692 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,393,209. As of Thursday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 71,167.

As many as 561,683 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 497,307 in Punjab, 212,021 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 133,529 in Islamabad, 35,163 in Balochistan, 42,316 in Azad Kashmir and 11,274 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,403 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,009 in Sindh, 6,167 in KP, 1,002 in Islamabad, 776 in Azad Kashmir, 371 in Balochistan and 189 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Germany plans 'freedom day' -

Germany will start rolling back most of its coronavirus restrictions in three stages as falling infection rates suggest the Omicron-fuelled wave has peaked, Chancellor Olaf Scholz says. Media-dubbed "freedom day" is slated for March 20.

- Austria, Switzerland drop restrictions -

Switzerland and Austria become the latest European countries to drop almost all of their Covid-19 restrictions despite the virus still circulating strongly.

- Dutch response slammed -

The Dutch government was insufficiently prepared for the Covid pandemic, leaving care homes unprotected and undermining its own messages on masks, an independent probe finds.

- Mobile vaccine labs for Africa -

Germany's BioNTech unveils mobile vaccine production units housed in shipping containers, aimed at bringing manufacturing to Africa.

- Xi's Hong Kong order -

Chinese leader Xi Jinping tells Hong Kong to take "all necessary measures" to control an Omicron-fuelled outbreak a day after the city's leader Carrie Lam ruled out a China-style hard lockdown.

- Jabs for UK 5-11-year-olds -

All children aged five to 11 in England will be offered a Covid-19 vaccine, the UK government says, following similar announcements in the rest of the UK.

- Over 5.8 million dead -

Coronavirus has killed at least 5,838,469 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources Wednesday at 1800 GMT.

The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 925,815, followed by Brazil with 639,689, and India 509,872.

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

With inputs from AFP.