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News

All coronavirus indicators in Pakistan shoot up

Country records 3,495 infections, 61 deaths, positivity ratio climbs up to 7.8 percent

March 18, 2021 11:30 AM


As the third coronavirus wave continued to surge across Pakistan, the country’s positivity rate shot up to 7.8 percent on Thursday as it recorded 61 more deaths and 3,495 infections during the last 24 hours (Wednesday, showed the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday morning.

As per the latest NCOC statistics, after the addition of 61 more fatalities, the death toll has now surged to 13,717 whereas the number of total confirmed cases stood at 615,810, after adding 3,495 new ones.

During the past 24 hours (Wednesday), 1,634 patients have recovered from the Covid-19 while the total recoveries stood at 577,501. The total count of active cases across Pakistan was 24,592.

As many as 262,207 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 191,186 in Punjab, 77,443 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 49,476 in Islamabad, 19,269 in Balochistan, 11,264 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,965 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 5,896 individuals have so far lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,469 in Sindh, 2,188 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 531 in Islamabad, 328 in Azad Kashmir, 202 in Balochistan and 103 in Gilgit Baltistan.

A total of 44,377 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Wednesday) while 9,648,242 samples have been tested so far.

Punjab: On Thursday, authorities reported 43 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 5,986. The province now has 191,186 confirmed cases; it reported 1,824 new infections after conducting 17,127 tests, a positivity ratio of 10.65 percent. There were 980 new recoveries recorded, leaving 174,269 fully recovered, and 11,021 active cases of the virus.

Sindh: Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 262,207; it reported 384 new infections on Thursday after conducting 10,590 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.63 percent. The province reported 1 new death, raising toll to 4,469, while its recoveries rose by 196 to 253,237. Overall, the province now has 4,501 active cases of the novel coronavirus.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 624 new infections after conducting 7,622 tests, a positivity ratio of 8.19 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 77,443. It recorded 9 new deaths, raising toll to 2,188, while its recoveries have risen by 193 to 71,297. There are currently 3,958 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Balochistan: The province on Thursday raised its confirmed cases to 19,269 with 22 new infections after conducting 493 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.46 percent. There were no deaths and 12 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 202 fatalities and 18,908 fully recovered. There are now 159 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Islamabad: Islamabad on Thursday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 538 to 49,476 after conducting 6,919 tests; a positivity ratio of 7.77 percent. There were 2 deaths and 192 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 531 casualties; 44,828 recovered; and 4,117 active cases.

Gilgit Baltistan: Gilgit-Baltistan reported no new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday after conducting 352 tests; it now has 4,965 confirmed cases. The region reported no deaths or recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,856 fully recovered people. There are currently 6 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.

Azad Kashmir: In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 103 to 11,264 after conducting 1,274 tests, a positivity ratio of 8.08 percent. There were 6 deaths and 61 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 328 fatalities and 10,106 fully recovered. It now has 830 active cases of COVID-19.

Global developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- UK defends AstraZeneca -

AstraZeneca's vaccine shot is safe and there is no evidence of health risks, the UK's health minister says, after several EU countries halt rollouts over fears of blood clots.

- Royal reprimand -

Queen Elizabeth II's oldest son and heir Prince Charles attacks anti-vaccine activists, saying "who would have thought that in the 21st century there would be a significant lobby opposing vaccination, given its track record in eradicating so many terrible diseases".

- J&J effective -

The World Health Organization's vaccine experts recommend the single-shot Johnson and Johnson jab for use in countries where variants of the virus are circulating.

- Child deaths -

The pandemic may have indirectly contributed to around 228,000 additional child deaths in 2020, 11,000 maternal fatalities and 3.5 million unwanted pregnancies in South Asia, the UN says.

- Papua plea -

Papua New Guinea's health minister says the country's record wave of infections will "spike" further in the coming weeks, calling on AstraZeneca to deliver one million vaccine doses to staunch the looming crisis.

- Tokyo opens up -

Japan will lift a state of emergency in the Tokyo area to contain the virus, the prime minister says, with less than five months before the postponed Olympics are to take place.

- Tourism ticket -

The EU unveils plans for a European vaccine pass to ease travel, an idea pushed by tourist hotspots such as Greece desperate to save their crippled economies.

- 2.6 million dead -

At least 2,671,720 million people have died of coronavirus around the world since the outbreak began in December 2019.

The US is the worst-affected country with 536,922 deaths followed by Brazil (282,127), Mexico (195,119), India (159,044) and Britain (125,690).

 

With inputs from AFP.



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