The statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning showed that Pakistan has recorded 17 more deaths and 659 infections from the coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Thursday). 

As per the NCOC figures, after the addition of 17 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,431 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,271,687 after adding the fresh 659 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), a total of 45,093 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 1.46 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 1,395.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1453890632884305920

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), as many as 931 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,220,105. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 23,151.

As many as 469,122 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 439,845 in Punjab, 177,807 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 106,835 in Islamabad, 33,228 in Balochistan, 34,461 in Azad Kashmir and 10,389 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 12,909 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,563 in Sindh, 5,738 in KP, 939 in Islamabad, 740 in Azad Kashmir, 356 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Billions needed for Covid plan -
The World Health Organization says its new plan to secure and deploy vaccines, tests and treatments to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and potentially prevent another five million deaths needs $23.4 billion over the next 12 months.

- New Russian records -
Russia reports record numbers of daily coronavirus cases and deaths -- 40,096 new cases and 1,159 fatalities -- as Moscow shuts down non-essential services for 11 days to combat the surge in infections.

- And in Ukraine -
The mayor of Ukraine's capital Kiev imposes new coronavirus restrictions, including a health pass for public transport and venues, as Russia's neighbour also reports record daily cases. 

- Delta slows US growth -
The US economic expansion slowed dramatically in the third quarter to an annual rate of just two percent as consumer spending was choked by the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and renewed restrictions, the government says.

- Eurozone recovering 'strongly' -
The European Central Bank maintains its massive stimulus programme and says the eurozone "continues to recover strongly" from the coronavirus pandemic but is under pressure from supply shortages.

- Third Chinese city under lockdown -
China places a third city under lockdown to tackle Covid-19 numbers, with around six million people now under orders to stay home as Beijing chases zero cases before the upcoming Winter Olympics.

- Africa faces syringe shortage -
Africa's struggle to inoculate people against Covid-19 risks being hobbled by a shortage of syringes just as supplies of vaccines flood into the continent, the WHO says.

- Covid drives down migration -
The flow of immigrants to developed countries fell at its fastest pace ever of more than 30 percent at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the OECD says in its annual migration report.

- Hungary: move to impose jabs -
The Hungarian government says companies can oblige personnel to be vaccinated against Covid-19, on pain of being suspended without pay and eventually fired, as the number of cases spirals.

- Over 4.9 million dead - 
The coronavirus has killed at least 4,969,926  people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Thursday. 

The US has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 741,235, followed by Brazil with 606,679, India with 456,386, Mexico with 287,274 and Russia 235,057.

Based on the latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 2,459, followed by Russia with 1,159 and India with 733. 

Taking into account excess mortality directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

 

With inputs from AFP.