Pakistan reported 80 coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour-period (Saturday) and 2,615 new confirmed infections, said the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday morning.

According to the NCOC daily situation update, most of the single-day deaths took place in Punjab, followed by Sindh. Out of the 80 people who fell victim to the virus, 68 died in hospitals, out of them, 44 died on ventilators. 

At least 2,615 coronavirus patients are admitted to hospitals across the country, at least 2,486 are deemed critical, while 272 ventilators are occupied.

The number of total active Covid cases in Pakistan stands at 40,553 as of Sunday morning. 

As many as 37,206 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Saturday): Sindh carried out 10,372 tests: Punjab 14,622, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 5,488, Islamabad 5,403, Balochistan 428, Gilgit Baltistan 412 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 481.

The number of total tests conducted so far stands at 6,301,341.

About 407,405 people have so far been recovered from the coronavirus across Pakistan making it a significant count. 

After addition of 2,615 infections, the number of total cases detected so far is 457,288 (AJK 7,961, Balochistan 17,909, GB 4,822, Islamabad 36,117, KP 54,948, Punjab 131,428, Sindh 204,103).

Eighty more fatalities lifted the total number of deaths to 9,330 with Sindh having 3,319, Punjab 3,604, KP 1,536, Islamabad 389, Balochistan 179, GB 99 and AJK 204.

Global developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- New virus strain wrecks English Christmas -  

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces a "stay at home" order for London and southeast England to slow a new coronavirus strain that is significantly more infectious.

Early data suggests the new strain could be "up to 70 percent more transmissible", according to Johnson.

He orders new restrictions for London and south-eastern England -- an area home to around a third of the country's population -- from Sunday until at least December 30.

- Italy tightens virus restrictions -

Italy will be classified a "red" zone over the Christmas and New Year periods, meaning that between December 21 and January 6, people will only be allowed to leave their homes once per day to visit friends or relatives, and travel between regions will be banned. 

And starting from December 24, bars and restaurants will also be closed. 

However, the rules will be relaxed on December 28, 29 and 30, as well as on January 4, when shops will be able to remain open until 9 pm and people will be allowed to move about freely.

- Swiss approve Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine -

Swiss regulators give the green light to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with immunisation set to start within days as the country battles rising coronavirus cases and deaths.

It is the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the wealthy Alpine nation, but others are being assessed.

Health Minister Alain Berset says vaccinating will start "in the coming days."

"Those who are particularly vulnerable will have priority," he says.

- US approves Moderna vaccine -

The United States authorises Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, as the country grapples with a surge that is killing over 2,500 people a day.

The US is the first nation to approve the two-dose regimen, which is now the second vaccine to be deployed in a Western country after one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Hours after the approval, preparations start to move the first of millions of doses to locations across the US, a top official says.

- Turkish virus patients die in hospital fire -

At least nine coronavirus patients die in a fire at a hospital in southeastern Turkey, the health ministry says. 

The blaze in an intensive care ward of the hospital in Gaziantep broke out when a tank on an artificial respirator exploded.

All the victims were patients who had been hospitalised with the coronavirus. 

- Israel's Netanyahu gets jab -

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vaccinated against coronavirus, kicking off a national rollout over the coming days.

- Thailand seafood market outbreak -

Thailand's biggest seafood market and the surrounding area are locked down to contain a coronavirus outbreak, after the country's largest spike in cases since the pandemic began.

The kingdom had been mostly unscathed by the pandemic, with just over 4,000 cases and 60 deaths so far.

But on Saturday night, authorities announce 548 positive cases connected to the market in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province, about 40 minutes southwest of Bangkok.

- Sydney to Hobart yacht race cancelled -

Australia's gruelling Sydney to Hobart yacht race is called off for the first time in its 76-year history because of an escalating coronavirus outbreak, organisers say.

The often brutal 628-nautical mile (1,163-kilometre) bluewater classic was due to start on Boxing Day, but with parts of Sydney locked down after a new cluster of Covid-19 cases, it is cancelled.

- Macron stable -

French President Emmanuel Macron who tested positive this week is stable and tests are showing reassuring results.

The president, who is working in self-isolation from an official residence outside Paris, "is still presenting the same symptoms of the Covid-19 illness (fatigue, coughing, stiffness)", a statement signed by his doctor says.

- 1.67 million dead -

At least 1,675,362 people have died since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 313,660 deaths, followed by Brazil with 185,650 deaths, India with 145,136, Mexico with 117,249 and Italy with 67,894. 

 

With inputs from AFP.