Pakistan has posted another 16 deaths and 622 infections from the coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Wednesday), showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday morning.

As per the NCOC data, after the addition of 16 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,328 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,266,826 after adding the fresh 622 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Wednesday), a total of 44,334 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 1.69 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 1,690.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1450991708058136581

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 1,112 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,213,799. As of Thursday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 24,699.

As many as 466,750 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 438,433 in Punjab, 177,132 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 106,571 in Islamabad, 33,149 in Balochistan, 34,417 in Azad Kashmir and 10,374 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 12,876 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,536 in Sindh, 5,698 in KP, 938 in Islamabad, 740 in Azad Kashmir, 354 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Bolsonaro charges -
A Brazilian senate committee will ask that President Jair Bolsonaro face criminal charges -- including crimes against humanity -- over his handling of the pandemic which has left more than 600,000 of his compatriots dead.

- Russia deaths spiral -
President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce new Russia-wide restrictions after at least 1,028 people died of the virus in the last 24 hours, another grim daily record.

Moscow's mayor has already ordered mandatory jabs for service workers and unvaccinated over-60s to work from home.

- UK curbs call -
British health chiefs call for some restrictions to be reinstated after it recorded the highest death toll since March amid spiralling infections.

- Canada MPs must get jab -
Canadian lawmakers will have to be vaccinated to enter the House of Commons there from late November.

- Gates give $120 million -
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is putting $120 million into getting a anti-Covid pill called molnupiravir to poorer countries. US lab Merck claims it reduces the risk of hospitalisation by half in people infected with the virus.

- US Supreme Court backs pass -
A US Supreme Court justice struck down a bid by some health workers in Maine to block a mandatory vaccine pass there.

- Italian tax cuts -
Italy's government agrees on tax cuts to underpin an ambitious reform agenda and boost growth after the pandemic.

- Beijing boosters -
Beijing is starting to give booster jabs as the Chinese capital gears up to host a tightly controlled Winter Olympics in February.

- 4.9 million dead - 
The coronavirus has killed at least 4,910,200 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Wednesday. 

The US has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 728,296, followed by Brazil with 603,855, India 452,651, Mexico 284,925 and Russia 226,353.

The countries with the most new deaths were the US with 1,850 new deaths, followed by Russia with 1,028 and Romania with 574.

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

With inputs from AFP.