Pakistan has recorded seven more deaths and 322 infections from coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Friday).

According to the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning, after the addition of four new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,905 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,293,081 after adding the fresh 353 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Friday), a total of 48,148 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.73 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 624.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1474531293186572292

During the last 24 hours (Friday), as many as 112 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,254,413. As of Saturday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 9,763.

As many as 480,288 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 444,496 in Punjab, 181,167 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108,425 in Islamabad, 33,621 in Balochistan, 34,655 in Azad Kashmir and 10,429 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,062 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,661 in Sindh, 5,921 in KP, 966 in Islamabad, 746 in Azad Kashmir, 363 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Pandemic Christmas 2 -

The world rings in a second pandemic Christmas -- and a third since the first outbreak in China -- as the fast-spreading Omicron virus brings the prospect of yet more Covid restrictions.

- New UK record -

The UK announces a new record number of 122,186 new virus cases in the last 24 hours, fuelled by the Omicron variant.

- US Africa travel ban -

The United States will next week lift the travel ban imposed on several southern African nations where the Omicron variant was first detected, officials say.

- Fourth jab in Chile -

Chile will offer its citizens a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose from February, starting with high-risk categories, President Sebastian Pinera announces.

- Morocco flight ban -

Morocco extends a halt on international passenger flights until the end of January as it tries to rein in surging cases of Omicron.

- Orthodox leader positive -

The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew I, 81, is in "good" condition after testing positive for the coronavirus, his office says.

- Guadeloupe protests -

Protesters in Guadeloupe occupy the local legislature in the French Caribbean overseas territory, in a new flare-up of a standoff with Paris sparked by Covid rules.

- More than 5.3 million dead - 

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,385,564 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally Friday from official sources compiled by AFP.

Record numbers of new infections since the start of the pandemic have been passed this week so far in the UK, Denmark, Spain, France, Canada, Finland, Australia, Kenya, Malta, South Sudan, Iceland and Monaco.

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

With inputs from AFP.