There was no let-up in the coronavirus strikes across Pakistan, as another 67 people lost their lives whereas 4,468 fresh cases were reported during the last 24 hours (Friday), showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning.

As per the latest NCOC statistics, after the addition of 67 more fatalities, the death toll has now surged to 14,158 while the number of total confirmed cases stood at 649,824, after adding the 4,468 new ones.

During the past 24 hours (Friday), 2,137 patients have recovered from the coronavirus while the total recoveries stood at 593,282. The total count of active cases was 42,384 and the positivity rate stood at 10.09 percent.

As many as 264,335 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 210,095 in Punjab, 83,630 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 55,056 in Islamabad, 19,453 in Balochistan, 12,245 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,990 in Gilgit Baltistan.

As many as 6,190 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,487 in Sindh, 2,274 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 557 in Islamabad, 342 in Azad Kashmir, 205 in Balochistan and 103 in Gilgit Baltistan.

A total of 44,279 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Friday) while 10,021,07 samples have so far been tested.

Punjab: On Saturday, authorities reported 48 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 6,190. The province now has 210,095 confirmed cases; it reported 2,330 new infections after conducting 16,473 tests, a positivity ratio of 14.14 percent. There were 1,245 new recoveries recorded, leaving 182,596 fully recovered, and 21,309 active cases of the virus.

Sindh: Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 264,355; it reported 293 new infections on Saturday after conducting 11,134 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.63 percent. The province reported 1 new death, raising toll to 4,487, while its recoveries rose by 112 to 255,511. Overall, the province now has 4,357 active cases of the novel coronavirus.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: During the past 24 hours (Friday), the provincial government recorded 953 new infections after conducting 8,029 tests, a positivity ratio of 11.87 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 83,630. It recorded 14 new deaths, raising toll to 2,274, while its recoveries have risen by 559 to 74,040. There are currently 7,316 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Balochistan: The province on Saturday raised its confirmed cases to 19,453 with 26 new infections after conducting 656 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.96 percent. There were no deaths and 20 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 205 fatalities and 19,023 fully recovered. There are now 225 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Islamabad: Islamabad on Saturday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 709 to 55,056 after conducting 6,601 tests; a positivity ratio of 10.74 percent. There were 2 deaths and 145 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 557 casualties; 46,623 recovered; and 7,876 active cases.

Gilgit-Baltistan: Gilgit-Baltistan reported seven new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday after conducting 311 tests; it now has 4,990 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths or recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,858 fully recovered people. There are currently 29 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.

Azad Kashmir: In Azad Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 150 to 12,245 after conducting 1,075 tests, a positivity ratio of 13.95 percent. There were 2 deaths and 56 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 342 fatalities and 10,631 fully recovered. It now has 1,272 active cases of COVID-19.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

Brazil reports 3,650 dead in one day

Brazil set a new daily Covid-19 death toll record of 3,650 on Friday, the health ministry said, as the pandemic spins out of control in Latin America's largest economy.

Since February, Brazil has seen record after record in fatalities and new cases of infection as the country second hardest hit anywhere in the world, after the United States, with more than 307,000 dead from the pandemic.

It broke through the threshold of 3,000 fatalities in one day on Tuesday. The average daily toll over the past week is 2,400 -- more than triple what it was in early January.

The toll has risen steadily due to factors including people's abandoning social distancing norms and a new virus variant that emerged here and is believed to be more contagious than the original strain.

Another big problem is that the country's vaccination drive is moving slowly. So far only 5.9 percent of the population of 212 million has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

- Half billion shots given -
More than half a billion people across the world have had Covid-19 vaccine jabs, according to an AFP tally from official sources.

Over 512.91 million doses have been given in 167 countries and territories as vaccinations campaigns begin to accelerate.

- 10 mn jabs for poorest -
The World Health Organization calls for the donation of 10 million vaccine doses to ensure that every country can start immunising within the first 100 days of 2021.

- EU recovery fund -
The German Constitutional Court stops Europe's biggest economy from ratifying an enormous 750-billion-euro ($885 billion) EU coronavirus recovery fund, after a last-minute legal challenge is filed against the move.

- Vaccines war -
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gives the green light to the Dutch Halix factory to produce AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, which has been at the heart of a bitter dispute over supplies between the EU and Britain.

- Deep freeze -
Vials of Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine can be kept at normal freezer temperatures for short periods instead of in ultra-cold storage, EMA says, saying it would help the "rapid roll-out" of vaccines across Europe.

- High-risk zone -
Germany classifies France as a high-risk zone for the virus in a move that means travellers need to show a negative Covid-19 test and quarantine upon arrival.

- Nairobi locks down -
Kenya places Nairobi and nearby counties under partial lockdown and closes schools and bars there to curb the highest rates of coronavirus infection seen in Kenya since the pandemic began a year ago.

- Ireland hotel quarantine -
Ireland begins enforcing a mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers arriving from 33 "high risk" countries.

- Brazilian vaccine -
Sao Paulo's Butantan biomedical institute says it is developing a "100 percent Brazilian" vaccine against Covid-19 and expects to start using it in July.

- Madagascar u-turn -
Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina rows back on his hard line stance against coronavirus vaccination, accepting mass inoculation but standing by a herbal infusion he has touted as a "cure.

- More time -
Norway extends its suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine until April 15, with health officials saying they need more time to investigate a potential link to severe blood clotting.

- 2.7 million dead -
At least 2,756,395 people have died of Covid-19 around the world 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 546,822 deaths, followed by Brazil with 303,462, Mexico with 200,211, India with 160,949 and Britain with 126,445.

 

With inputs from AFP.