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News

Pakistan posts 36 more coronavirus deaths, 1,340 infections

February 20, 2021 12:03 PM


Another 36 people died of coronavirus and 1,340 others contracted infections throughout Pakistan during the last 24 hours (Friday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning.

Among the 36 new deaths, 19 were recorded in Punjab, nine in Sindh, seven in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). With the addition of the latest fatalities, the total number of deaths registered in Pakistan has now mounted to 12,563.

Most of the deaths – 5,185 – have occurred in Punjab followed by Sindh which has suffered 4,276 deaths.

Likewise, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has so far recorded 2,027 deaths, Islamabad 488, AJK 286, Balochistan 199 and Gilgit-Baltistan 199.

So far, 569,846 coronavirus cases have been registered in Pakistan including 255,430 in Sindh, 166,777 in Punjab, 70,716 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 43,282 in Islamabad, 18,972 in Balochistan, 9,718 in AJK and 4,951 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

However, 533,202 Covid patients have now recuperated in the country whereas 24,081 have yet to recover.

Global developments
These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Billions for Covax -
G7 leaders agree to "intensify cooperation" in response to the coronavirus pandemic and increase funding for the rollout of vaccines in the world's poorest countries to $7.5 billion.

The money includes $4 billion (4.6 billion euros) from the United States, an extra 1.5 billion euros from Germany and one billion euros from the European Union and will go to the Covax global vaccination programme.

- First dose 85 percent effective -
A study on healthcare workers at the largest hospital in Israel shows the first dose of the Pfizer jab is 85 percent effective against infection between two and four weeks after being administered.

And Pfizer-BioNTech say tests have shown that their vaccine can stand warmer temperatures than initially thought, potentially simplifying the jab's complex cold-chain logistics.

- Vaccines for Africa -
French President Emmanuel Macron calls on Western nations to supply "as soon as possible" 13 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to African governments, enough to inject the continent's health workers.

- Dutch curfew ruling -
Dutch appeals judges say they will rule in a week's time on whether to overturn a lower court's order for the government to scrap its coronavirus curfew.

The curfew, in place since January 23, looks set to stay in any case however as the government is pushing through a new law to reinstate it even if it loses the appeal.

- Italy: three regions upgraded -
Italy's health ministry announces tighter anti-coronavirus measures for three regions -- Campania, which includes Naples, along with Emilia Romagna and Molise, but spares its biggest cities, Rome and Milan. 

- Lockdown in Iraq -
Lockdown measures come into effect in Iraq as its daily infection figures double from less than a week ago. The measures include a 8:00 pm until 5:00 am curfew as well as full lockdowns on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

- 2.4 million deaths -
The virus has caused at least 2,441,926 deaths around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 493,119 deaths, followed by Brazil with 243,457, Mexico with 178,108, India with 156,111 and Britain with 119,387.

- Cases halve since January -
The pandemic has continued its sharp slowdown with the number of new cases halved since early January, according to a specialised AFP database.

- Nearly 200 million doses -
More than 197 million doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been injected in 106 countries and territories around the world, according to an AFP count based on official sources at 1730 GMT.

- London's virtual fashion week -
London Fashion Week starts, virtually, due to coronavirus, a year after thousands flocked to see designs by Victoria Beckham and Vivienne Westwood, in the weeks before the pandemic hit the UK.

With inputs from AFP.



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