Pakistan has registered further slide in the coronavirus fatalities and infections as the country reported only 42 deaths and 2,060 cases during the last 24 hours (Friday), showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning.

As per the NCOC figures, after the addition of 42 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 27,524 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,236,888 after adding the fresh 2,060 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Friday), a total of 44,958 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 4.58 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 4,267.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1441578798634266634

During the last 24 hours (Friday), as many as 10,928 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,157,322. As of Saturday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 52,042.

As many as 454,510 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 427,583 in Punjab, 172,766 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 104,913 in Islamabad, 32,837 in Balochistan, 33,990 in Azad Kashmir and 10,289 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 12,535 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,327 in Sindh, 5,488 in KP, 910 in Islamabad, 734 in Azad Kashmir, 346 in Balochistan and 184 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- US booster shots -

Around 60 million people in the US are now eligible for a Pfizer booster shot against Covid-19, President Joe Biden says, after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overrules its own panel of health experts on the issue.

- After 561 days, back to normal -

Norway will on Saturday lift almost all the restrictions imposed in March 2020 to fight against Covid-19, the government announces.

- Pakistan debt extended -

The Paris Club of creditor countries gives Pakistan another extension, until December, to service its debt so that it can dedicate its resources to combatting the Covid pandemic. It does not give a figure.

- End of Tunisian curfew -

Tunisian President Kais Saied announces the lifting on Sunday of a nighttime curfew in place since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but imposes vaccine certificates for public events.

- Cuban bars, restaurants to reopen -

Bars and restaurants, closed since January, will reopen gradually from Friday in eight of Cuba's 15 provinces, including the capital Havana.

- Berlin Marathon  -

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele vows to attack the men's world marathon record in Berlin on Sunday, just nine months after recovering from Covid-19. The marathon will be the first major race to have a mass start since the virus struck.

- 4.7 million dead - 

The coronavirus has killed at least 4,725,638 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 648,357 deaths, followed by Brazil with 592,964, India with 446,368, Mexico with 274,139 and Russia with 202,273.

Based on the latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were United States with 3,159, followed by Russia with 828 -- a new record -- and Mexico with 748. 

With inputs from AFP.