Another 40 people died of coronavirus whereas 1,245 new infections were reported from throughout Pakistan during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

As per the latest NCOC figures, with the addition of 40 more deaths the overall toll has now surged to 12,527 while the number of total confirmed cases stood at 568,506.

During the past 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 1,243 patients have recovered from the virus while the number of total recoveries stood at 531,840. The number of total active cases was 24,139.

So far, 255,039 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 166,242 in Punjab, 70,493 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 43,145 in Islamabad, 18,967 in Balochistan, 9,673 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,947 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Moreover, 5,166 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 4,267 in Sindh, 2,020 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 488 in Islamabad, 285 in Azad Kashmir, 199 in Balochistan, and 102 in Gilgit Baltistan.

A total of 34,754 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Thursday) while 8,602,515 samples have been tested so far.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

-Brazil passes 10m cases-

Brazil, the country with the second-highest coronavirus death toll, passed the 10-million mark for reported infections Thursday, amid a deadly second wave and problems with its vaccination campaign.

The country became the third to reach the grim mark -- after the United States and India -- with more than 51,900 new infections in 24 hours, according to official data. Over the same one-day period, 1,367 people died, bringing the total to over 243,400.

Brazil's figure of 10,030,626 came amid mounting criticism of how President Jair Bolsonaro's government has handled the epidemic and a vaccination response.

So far, three percent of the population of 212 million have received one of two required vaccine doses.

The month-old campaign with China's CoronaVac and the AstraZeneca shot, has had to be stopped in several cities and towns, however, due to a shortage of doses -- including in Rio de Janeiro.

- 100,000 deaths in Africa -

Coronavirus deaths in Africa hit 100,000, with 3,341,197 confirmed infections, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources. 

The virus has caused at least 2,430,693 deaths around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 490,550 deaths, followed by Brazil with 242,090, Mexico with 177,061, India with 156,014 and Britain with 118,933.

- US life expectancy down -

Life expectancy in the United States fell by a whole year, from 78.8 years to 77.8, in the first half of 2020 as the pandemic started to grip the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.

- Mink farm tests urged -

The European Union says mink farms should regularly test their animals for Covid-19 and carry out sequencing, following outbreaks on such farms in several countries in 2020, with confirmed cases of the virus being spread to humans.

- Vatican: jabbed or fired -

Vatican staff who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 could be sacked under a decree made public by the city state, which employs around 5,000 people.

- Zimbabwe campaign -

Zimbabwe begins its coronavirus immunisation three days after receiving Sinopharm jabs donated by China, with vice president Constantino Chiwenga receiving the first dose.

- German AstraZeneca reluctance  -

Doctors and public health officials plead with Germans to take up AstraZeneca anti-Covid vaccines after reported doubts about the efficacy of the British-made jabs hit demand.

- Sinovac green light -

Hong Kong approves the Chinese Sinovac jab for emergency use after a panel of experts fast-tracks its recommendation despite its relatively low efficacy rate of 62.3 percent.

- Virus hits Italian marriages -

The number of people getting married in Italy has plunged during the pandemic, including by 80 percent in the second quarter of 2020, when a strict lockdown was mostly in place.

- Tennis finals postponed -

This year's Billie Jean King Cup Finals, renamed from the Fed Cup in 2020, are postponed from April 13-18 in Budapest due to the Covid-19 pandemic. No new dates are announced.

- More than 190 million doses -

At least 191.96 million doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been injected in 106 countries and territories, according to an AFP count based on official sources at 1730 GMT Thursday.

 

With inputs from AFP.