Another 80 people lost their lives to the coronavirus whereas 1,843 fresh cases were reported during the last 24 hours (Tuesday) throughout Pakistan, showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday morning.

As per the latest NCOC statistics, after adding the 89 new deaths the toll has now surged to 20,930 whereas the number of confirmed cases stood at 924,667, after adding the 1,843 new ones.

During the past 24 hours (Tuesday), 4,047 patients have recovered from the virus while the total recoveries stood at 848,685.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1399918657900322818

As of Wednesday, the total count of active cases was recorded at 55,052, whereas the positivity rate was dropped to 3.90 percent.

As many as 319,447 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 340,557 in Punjab, 133,124 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 81,357 in Islamabad, 25,295 in Balochistan, 19,287 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 5,600 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Moreover, 10,084 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 5,051 in Sindh, 4,095 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 763 in Islamabad, 548 in Azad Kashmir, 282 in Balochistan and 107 in Gilgit Baltistan.

The health facilities across the country conducted 47,183 coronavirus detection tests, taking the total number of Covid-19 tests to 13,316,39 since the first case was reported early last year.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- WHO approves second Chinese jab -

The World Health Organization approves the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use -- the second Chinese jab to receive the WHO's green light after Sinopharm.

- Britain reports zero deaths -

Britain reports zero daily deaths from Covid-19 for the first time since July 30, 2020, despite fears over a possible third wave of cases.

However Covid restrictions will remain in several areas of Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says separately, putting pressure on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to delay plans to lift measures in England.

- Vaccines for all appeal -

The World Bank, World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization pool forces to call on rich countries to dig deep to ensure poorer nations are vaccinated.

And five of the world's biggest emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - say that measures such as waiving intellectual property rights over jabs could help poorer nations battle the pandemic.

- Malaysia locks down -

Malaysia goes into a tough nationwide lockdown as it battles a fresh surge. Neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam are also hammered by new outbreaks, with Hanoi worried by a new hybrid variant of the highly infectious Indian and British strains. 

- Pump that oil -

OPEC and its allies agree to maintain their planned production increases, as pandemic-hit demand for crude recovers.

- Irish stimulus -

Ireland's government announces a stimulus package worth more than 4.0 billion euros ($4.9 billion) to claw its economy out of the "enormous damage" wreaked by the pandemic.

- South African jobless rate rockets -

South Africa's unemployment rate climbed to its highest level on record in the first quarter, as the country reels from the pandemic.

- Cricket move? -

This year's men's T20 World Cup could be moved from India to the United Arab Emirates in response to the rise in coronavirus cases in the sub-continent, the International Cricket Council says.

- More than 3.5 million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 3,551,488 people worldwide since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data. 

The US is the worst-affected country with 594,568 deaths, followed by Brazil with 462,791, India with 331,895, Mexico with 223,568 and Britain with 127,782.

The figures are based on reports by health authorities in each country, but do not take into account upward revisions carried out later by statistical bodies. 

The WHO says up to three times more people have died directly or indirectly due to the pandemic than official figures suggest.

With inputs from AFP.