Pakistan posts seven coronavirus deaths, 319 infections in a day

Pakistan has recorded another seven deaths and 319 infections from the coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Friday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning,

As per the NCOC data, after the addition of seven new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,655 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,281,559 after adding the fresh 319 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Friday), a total of 39,200 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.81 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 1,077.

Statistics 20 Nov 21:
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 39,200
Positive Cases: 319
Positivity %: 0.81%
Deaths : 7
Patients on Critical Care: 1077

— NFRCC (@NFRCCofficial) November 20, 2021

During the last 24 hours (Friday), as many as 311 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,230,405. As of Saturday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 22,479.

As many as 473,918 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 442,353 in Punjab, 179,473 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 107,447 in Islamabad, 33,432 in Balochistan, 34,530 in Azad Kashmir and 10,406 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 12,994 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,611 in Sindh, 5,814 in KP, 951 in Islamabad, 741 in Azad Kashmir, 358 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.

In a related development, the NCOC has suspended the vaccination of children until November 27.

The NCOC in a tweet on Saturday morning said due to ongoing National MR Campaign (15-27 November 2021), Covid vaccine administration for children between 12-15 years will remain suspended till 27 November, 2021.

Due to ongoing National MR campaign, (15-27 November 2021), COVID vaccine administration for children between 12-15 years will remain suspended till 27 November 2021.

— NFRCC (@NFRCCofficial) November 20, 2021

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Half a million a day -

The number of new daily coronavirus cases increased sharply this week, by nine percent globally to 517,600, according to an AFP tally to Thursday.

- Merck pill gets EU okay -

The EU's drug watchdog backs Merck's anti-Covid pill for emergency use ahead of its formal authorisation and starts a review of Pfizer's antiviral treatment as cases soar across Europe.

- Israel clears Pfizer for kids -

Israel will begin vaccinating children aged five to 11 from Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says.

Canada also authorises the Pfizer jab for the 5-11 age group.

- French booster for over 40s -

France announces plans for booster shots for the over 40s.

- Dutch New Year damp squib -

The Netherlands bans the setting off of fireworks over the New Year for a second year, as hospital workers battle a record surge of infections.

- Kimmich back in quarantine -

Unvaccinated Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich returns to home quarantine after having had contact with someone testing positive for Covid-19, ruling him out of at least two games.

- Austria locks down - 

Austria is to go into lockdown from Monday and make vaccinations mandatory, becoming the first European Union country to take such stringent measures as cases spiral.

- Christmas markets off -

The neighbouring German state of Bavaria cancels all of its popular Christmas markets as a surge in cases sweeps Europe.

- Germany told to shut bars -

The head of Germany's disease control agency calls for all bars to close, big events to be cancelled and private contacts limited to slow the spread of the virus.

- Japan's half-trillion boost -

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announces a record $490 billion stimulus for the world's third-largest economy to shore up its patchy pandemic recovery.

- Bulgaria 'risk to EU' -

The EU's Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton warns that Bulgaria's extremely low vaccination rate is "a big risk" to the entire bloc, with only a quarter of its people fully covered.

- Philippines to open doors -

The Philippines will soon welcome back foreign tourists as it prepares a partial reopening to vaccinated travellers 20 months after closing its borders to contain the virus.

- First case a woman -

The first known case of the virus was a woman who worked at a Wuhan market and was days later than originally thought, a top scientist claims. The investigation in the journal Science tips the scale towards an animal origin for the outbreak.

- Czechs bar unjabbed -

Only the vaccinated and those who have had Covid in the past six months will be allowed into bars, hotels, restaurants and other services, Czech authorities say.

- More than 5.1 million dead - 

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,130,627 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT Friday. 

The United States has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 768,697, followed by Brazil with 612,144, India with 465,082, Mexico with 291,929 and Russia with 261,589.

The countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 1,279, followed by Russia with 1,254 and Ukraine with 725.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

With inputs from AFP.