Pakistan has registered another eight deaths and 594 infections from coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Saturday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday morning.

The latest figures released by the NCOC suggested that after the addition of eight new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,941 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,296,527 after adding the fresh 594 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Saturday), 45,585 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 1.30 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 637.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1477446636406116354 

During the last 24 hours (Saturday), as many as 208 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,257,024. As of Sunday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 10,184.

As many as 482,411 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 445,228 in Punjab, 181,430 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108,720 in Islamabad, 33,664 in Balochistan, 34,665 in Azad Kashmir and 10,429 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

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Moreover, 13,073 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,673 in Sindh, 5,932 in KP, 967 in Islamabad, 746 in Azad Kashmir, 364 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- New Year celebrated under shadow of Covid -
The world celebrates the New Year with festivities cancelled or severely curtailed, with the third year of the pandemic marked by an explosion of infections but timid signs of hope for 2022.

Britain, the United States and even Australia, long protected from the pandemic, break records for new recorded cases, while France announces that Omicron is now the dominant strain in the country.

- Europe tops 100 million cases -
Europe, the current epicentre of the pandemic, passes the milestone of 100 million cases identified since the virus emerged in December 2019, or more than a third of the total cases worldwide, according to an AFP tally at 1845 GMT on Saturday.

- Sporting calendar thrown into chaos -
The Omicron variant disrupts the sporting calendar with countless fixtures postponed all over the world in sports, ranging from football and rugby to basketball, boxing and volleyball.

- Dutch police raid Covid-rule-breaking rave - 
Dutch police break up a rave party in breach of Covid rules that was attended by hundreds in a disused factory, local media report.

Dozens of police officers enter the makeshift venue in the central town of Rijswijk with hundreds more mobilised to shepherd people away, NOS television says.

- France says six-year-olds must wear masks on public transport -
The French government says children aged six and above will have to wear a face mask on public transport from Monday.

Masks had previously been compulsory from the age of 11, but Paris is tightening regulations given the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

- UK minister says 'try to live with virus' -
Britain's health minister insists that reimposing coronavirus restrictions in England will be "an absolute last resort" and that the country must "try to live with Covid".

"Curbs on our freedom must be an absolute last resort and the British people rightly expect us to do everything in our power to avert them," Health Secretary Sajid Javid writes in an article.

- Cases quadruple in Guadeloupe -
The number of new cases of Covid-19 has quadrupled in four days on the French island of Guadeloupe, rising to 2,191 compared with 543 cases over seven days last week.

With inputs from AFP.