Pakistan has reported fresh 105 coronavirus infections and no death during the last 24 hours (Saturday), showed the numbers released by the National Institute of Health Pakistan on Sunday morning.

As per the latest NIH data, the death toll remained the same as was a day before which was 30,369, whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,527,856 after adding the fresh 105 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Saturday), 19,462 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.54 percent. The number of patients in critical care was recorded at 186.

https://twitter.com/NIH_Pakistan/status/1518032035868200967

During the last 24 hours (Saturday), as many as 52 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,494,050. As of Sunday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 3,437.

As many as 576,739 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 505,963 in Punjab, 219,448 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 135,175 in Islamabad, 35,484 in Balochistan, 43,310 in Azad Kashmir and 11,737 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 13,560 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,101 in Sindh, 6,324 in KP, 1,023 in Islamabad, 792 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

China Covid death toll rises

Shanghai reported 39 Covid deaths Sunday, official data showed, its highest daily toll since a weeks-long lockdown started, while China's capital Beijing warned of a "grim" situation with rising infections.

The world's second-largest economy has been struggling to stamp out its worst Covid-19 outbreak in two years with a playbook of harsh lockdowns and mass testing as it sticks to a strict zero-Covid policy, taking a heavy toll on businesses and public morale.

The cosmopolitan business hub of Shanghai has been almost entirely locked down since the start of the month, snarling supply chains, with many residents confined to their homes for even longer as it became the epicentre of the outbreak.

China's biggest city only announced its first fatalities on April 18, despite reporting thousands of cases each day in recent weeks.

It reported 39 more deaths on Sunday, National Health Commission data showed, bringing its total toll to 87, while the country logged nearly 22,000 new local virus cases.

Shanghai's previous highest daily toll since lockdown was 12, reported a day earlier.

The city of 25 million has struggled to provide fresh food to those confined at home, while patients have reported trouble accessing regular medical care as thousands of health staff were deployed for Covid testing and treatment.

Censors have battled to scrub the online backlash against the prolonged lockdown.

Meanwhile 22 new infections were reported in the capital Beijing, after warnings from an official on Saturday that the city must take urgent action.

Health official Pang Xinghuo said preliminary observations suggested Covid had been "spreading invisibly" within the capital for a week now, affecting "schools, tour groups and many families".

"The risk of continued and hidden transmission is high, and the situation is grim," Tian Wei of Beijing's Municipal Party Committee told a press briefing.

"The whole city of Beijing must act immediately."

Only 29% hospitalised Covid patients fully well one year on: study

Not even one in four people have completely recovered from Covid a full year after being hospitalised with the disease, a UK study indicated Sunday, warning that long Covid could become a common condition.

The study involving more than 2,300 people also found that women were 33 percent less likely to fully recover than men.

It also found that obese people were half as likely to fully recover, while those who needed mechanical ventilation were 58 percent less likely.

The study looked at the health of people who were discharged from 39 British hospitals with Covid between March 2020 and April 2021, then assessed the recovery of 807 of them five months and one year later.

Just 26 percent reported a full recovery after five months, and that number rose only slightly to 28.9 percent after a year, according to the study published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.

"The limited recovery from five months to one year after hospitalisation in our study across symptoms, mental health, exercise capacity, organ impairment and quality-of-life is striking," said study co-leader Rachel Evans of the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The most common long-Covid symptoms were fatigue, muscle pain, poor sleep, slowing down physically and breathlessness.

"Without effective treatments, long Covid could become a highly prevalent new long-term condition," said study co-lead Christopher Brightling of the University of Leicester.

The study, which will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, is ongoing and will continue to monitor the patients' health.

 

With inputs from AFP.