Another 75 people lost their lives to coronavirus whereas 2,726 fresh cases were reported during the last 24 hours (Wednesday) across Pakistan, showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday morning.

As per the latest NCOC) figures, after the addition of 75 more deaths the toll has now climbed up to 20,540 while the number of confirmed cases stood at 911,302 after adding 2,726 new ones.

During the past 24 hours (Wednesday), 3,901 patients have recovered from the coronavirus while the total recoveries stood at 831,744.

As of Thursday, the total count of active cases was recorded at 59,018, while the positivity rate was further down to 4.34 percent.

As many as 313,059 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 337,073 in Punjab, 131,027 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 80,779 in Islamabad, 24,823 in Balochistan, 19,008 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and 5,533 in Gilgit Baltistan.

As many as 9,899 individuals have so far lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,966 in Sindh, 4,009 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 751 in Islamabad, 535 in Azad Kashmir, 273 in Balochistan and 107 in Gilgit Baltistan.

The health facilities across the country conducted 62,706 coronavirus detection tests, taking the total number of Covid-19 tests to 13,006,32 since the first case was reported early last year.

On Wednesday, Pakistan also announced to open registration for vaccination against Covid-19 for all those aged above 19 from May 27.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Johnson 'unfit for job' -

Dominic Cummings, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's former top aide, told lawmakers that "tens of thousands of people died" needlessly because of the government's disastrous handling of the pandemic. He said Johnson was "unfit for the job" and "changed his mind 10 times a day".

- China needles Taiwan -

Beijing is accused of trying to block Taiwan from getting Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines from Germany, with President Tsai Ing-wen condemning what she described as Chinese interference.

- Beijing blasts lab theory -

For its part China claims the United States is "spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation" that the virus emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, the city where the pandemic began.

- EU-AstraZeneca court battle -

The European Union accuses AstraZeneca of a "flagrant violation" of its contract to provide vaccines for the bloc as it demands judges hit the drugs giant with big penalties.

- J&J jab age limit -

Belgium temporarily limits Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine to people over 41 after the death of a woman who received the jab.

- India variant spreads -

The variant first detected in India has now been officially recorded in 53 territories, a World Health Organization (WHO) report shows.

- Cancellation chorus -

Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper, an official Tokyo Olympics sponsor, calls for the Games to be cancelled in the latest sign of opposition less than two months before the opening ceremony.

- Bleak outlook in Brazil -

The virus death toll in Brazil surpasses 450,000 as delays plague the hard-hit country's vaccine rollout and epidemiologists warn a new surge of infections could be coming

- Germany's fun fund -

Germany unveils a 2.5-billion-euro ($3-billion) fund to revive the country's virus-hit cultural sector and encourage organisers to start planning events again.

- Stadium scare -

Thousands of Australian sports fans are told to self-isolate and get tested after an infected spectator attended an Australian Rules football match in Melbourne, with the city racing to avoid another lockdown.

- Pfizer for teens -

The European Medicines Agency will announce on Friday whether it has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for 12- to 15-year-olds.

- 3.48 million dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 3,487,457 people worldwide since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data. 

The US is the worst-affected country with 590,941 deaths, followed by Brazil with 452,031, India with 311,388, Mexico with 221,960 and Britain with 127,739.

The figures are based on reports by the health authorities in each country, but do not take into account upward revisions carried out later by statistical bodies. 

The WHO says up to three times more people have died directly or indirectly due to the pandemic than official figures suggest.

With inputs from AFP.