Pakistan has recorded another 50 deaths and 2,233 infections by coronavirus during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

As per the NCOC figures, after the addition of 50 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 27,482 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,234,828 after adding the fresh 2,233 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), a total of 52,788 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 4.23 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 4,409.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1441212168922304518

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 2,789 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,146,394. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 60,952.

As many as 453,858 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 426,639 in Punjab, 172,498 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 104,764 in Islamabad, 32,828 in Balochistan, 33,955 in Azad Kashmir and 10,286 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 12,514 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,316 in Sindh, 5,480 in KP, 909 in Islamabad, 734 in Azad Kashmir, 345 in Balochistan and 184 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis.

- EU Covid boosters? -
The EU's drug watchdog says it expects to decide in early October whether to approve boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for all people aged over 16.

A decision on further doses of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for at-risk people and the elderly is due at the same time, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) says.

- Russian record toll -
Russia matches its record daily coronavirus death toll of 820 first reached in August, as the Delta variant and a slowing vaccine drive push up infections.

- African vaccine put-off -
The African Union's health watchdog, the CDC, warns that by only recognising vaccines administered in a few countries Britain could make people across the continent more reluctant to get jabbed.

- Portugal to ease curbs -
Portugal, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, will lift most of its remaining Covid restrictions from October 1, the government announces.

- Door-to-door jabs for India –
India will start door-to-door jabs for people with special needs, restricted mobility or disabilities, as the nation of 1.3 billion ramps up its vaccination drive. Some 23 percent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated so far.

- Stay-at-home Nobels -
Nobel organisers say the winners of its science and literature prizes will receive their awards in their home countries for the second year in a row because of the pandemic.

- Art Basel is back -
Art Basel, the world's top contemporary art fair, returns to the Swiss city after a year's gap due to Covid-19 curbs, breathing life into a market devastated by the pandemic.

- 4.7 million dead - 
The coronavirus has killed at least 4,715,909 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources.

The US is the worst-affected country with 681,185 deaths, followed by Brazil with 592,316, India with 446,050, Mexico with 273,391 and Russia with 201,445.

Based on the latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 2,714, followed by Brazil with 876 and Russia with 820.

With inputs from AFP.