Another 33 people lost their lives to coronavirus whereas 1,315 fresh cases were reported during the last 24 hours (Friday) throughout Pakistan, showed the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning.

As per the latest NCOC statistics, after addition of 33 new deaths the death toll from Covid-19 has surged to 12,837 across Pakistan while the number of total confirmed cases stood at 578,797, after adding 1,315 fresh infections.

During the last 24 hours (Friday), 2,013 patients have recovered from the virus while the number of total recoveries stood at 544,406. The total count of active cases throughout Pakistan was 21,554.

As many as 257,730 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 170,817 in Punjab, 72,003 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 44,106 in Islamabad, 19,038 in Balochistan, 10,147 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,956 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 5,337 individuals have lost their lives to the coronavirus in Punjab, 4,335 in Sindh, 2,070 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 496 in Islamabad, 297 in Azad Kashmir, 200 in Balochistan and 102 in Gilgit Baltistan.

A total of 39,086 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Friday) while 8,912,918 samples have been tested so far.

On Friday, Pakistan marked one year since its first confirmed case of the coronavirus – the same day 22-year-old Yahya Jaffery arrived from Iran and ended up being the first carrier of the Covid-19 virus.

Global developments

These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- UN resolution -

The UN Security Council gives unanimous approval to a resolution calling for improved access to Covid-19 vaccines in conflict-hit or impoverished countries.

It is the second resolution on the pandemic passed by the council since it began a year ago.

- D-Day for one-shot jab -

US experts are voting on whether to give emergency approval to Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine, paving the way potentially for three million doses to ship next week.

If given the green light, "we have a plan to roll it out as quickly as Johnson & Johnson can make it," says US President Joe Biden.

- G20 plan kickstart -

Finance ministers and central bankers of the G20 countries -- which account for 80 percent of world trade -- meet to align plans to relaunch the global economy after the pandemic and limit harm to worst-off nations shut out of the race for vaccines.

- Sputnik V in EU -

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz agree to talks over the delivery and joint production of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the Kremlin says.

- Canada approves AstraZeneca jab -

Canadian authorities approve a third Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, which joins the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna jabs.

Ottawa has ordered 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and two million shots of the same formula made by the Serum Institute of India.

- Therapy cleared -

The EU's medicines regulator provisionally approves use of US biotech firm Regeneron's Covid-19 therapy, saying it prevented patients from getting worse.

Regeneron's synthetic antibody treatment was used to treat former US President Donald Trump after he contracted coronavirus last year.

- Israel: massive drive -

Just over half of Israel's population has had at least a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the health ministry says.

It says that 4.65 million of the country's 9.29 million population have received a first shot, with 3.27 million of them getting the recommended second dose too.

- Greek lockdown extended -

Greece extends a lockdown in the capital Athens and other areas until March 8 as the infection rate remains high.

- Japan eases measures -

Tokyo is ending a state of emergency early in some regions as infections slow, with less than five months to go before the pandemic-postponed Olympics are due to open there.

- Virus on rise again -

The virus picked up speed again over the past week in every part of the world except Africa, after a month in which new Covid-19 cases fell by half, according to AFP data.

- British variant dominant -

The more contagious British coronavirus variant is now the dominant strain in Belgium, accounting for 53 percent of infections, as authorities explain why numbers have again started to rise.

- 2.5 million deaths -

The virus has caused at least 2,508,786 deaths around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

The US has the heaviest toll with 508,314 deaths, followed by Brazil with 251,498, Mexico with 183,692, India 156,825 and the United Kingdom 122,070.

With inputs from AFP.