Pakistan has reported another 4,767 coronavirus infections, the highest single-day score recorded in past nine months as the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to surge across Pakistan.

Another 57 people died of the coronavirus during the last 24 hours (Saturday) taking the death toll to 14,215 whereas the number of total confirmed cases stood at 654,591, after adding 4,767 new ones, showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday morning.

During the past 24 hours (Saturday), 2,647 patients have recovered from the coronavirus while the number of total recoveries stood at 595,929. The total count of active cases was 44,447 and the positivity ratio stood at around 10 percent.

As many as 264,607 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 212,918 in Punjab, 84,609 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 55,594 in Islamabad, 19,497 in Balochistan, 12,367 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,999 in Gilgit Baltistan.

So far, 6,229 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,491 in Sindh, 2,283 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 559 in Islamabad, 344 in Azad Kashmir, 206 in Balochistan and 103 in Gilgit Baltistan.

A total of 45,656 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Saturday) while 10,066,72 samples have so far been tested.

Global developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- New restrictions in Belgium, Poland -

Poland shuts kindergartens, sports facilities and more non-essential shops and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urges Poles to spend Easter at home with their immediate families, but stops short of announcing restrictions on movement and a full lockdown.

Belgium limits access to non-medical services such as hairdressers for four weeks, and customers can only visit stores selling "non-essential" items such as clothing and books by appointment. 

Next week, the last before Easter, only primary schools will remain open.

- Manila in lockdown -

The Philippines announces that more than 24 million people in and around Manila will go into lockdown next week. 

The tougher restrictions in the country's economic heartland -- which accounts for about a fifth of the population -- come as more contagious variants of the virus fuel a resurgence in cases. 

- Chile wrestles with rising infections -

Chile, a world leader in coronavirus vaccinations where nearly one in three people have received a first dose, puts more than 80 percent of its population of 19 million in lockdown.

With new virus variants, believed to be more contagious, spreading across the continent, cases have been soaring in Chile despite its vaccination drive. 

- Kenya shuts schools, lockdowns Nairobi -

Kenya places Nairobi and nearby counties under partial lockdown and closes schools and bars in those areas as a deadly third wave of Covid-19 grips the country. 

- New record daily death toll in Brazil - 

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

- Record new infections in Argentina -

Argentina registers nearly 13,000 new infections, the highest number in more than two months as the government suspends flights arriving from Brazil, Chile and Mexico. 

- Yemen overwhelmed, warns MSF -

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warns that the number of critically Covid-19 patients is rising across war-wracked Yemen, urging assistance from donor countries and specialised groups

- France toughens border checks -

French authorities step up checks at airports and motorways to enforce a ban on movement between 19 different regions, including Paris, where the situation is described as "critical". 

- British PM sticks to plans to ease lockdown -

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vows to stick with his planned unwinding of a coronavirus lockdown, relishing the prospect of a pint and a haircut even as scientists warn of new variants.

Wales becomes the first UK nation to lift restrictions, with up to six people allowed to meet outside from Saturday, a measure to be adopted in England on Monday.

- More than 2.7 million dead -

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 2,768,431 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. 

The United States is the worst-affected country with 548,089 deaths followed by Brazil with 307,112 fatalities, Mexico with 200,862, India with 161,240 and Britain with 126,515 deaths. 

These figures are based on daily tolls provided by health authorities in each country and exclude later re-evaluations by statistical organisations, as has happened in Russia, Spain and Britain. 

 

With inputs from AFP.