Another 53 people have died due to the Covid-19 whereas 1,302 fresh cases were reported in Pakistan during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning.

According to the latest NCOC data, the death toll has climbed up to 11,886 while the number of confirmed cases stood at 551,842. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in Pakistan was 32,454. The national positivity ratio was recorded at 3.51 percent.

During the past 24 hours (Thursday), 1,684 patients have recovered from the virus and 1,903 patients were still in critical condition. The number of total recoveries stood at 507,502.

As usual, Sindh remained the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab and other provinces.

At least 249,498 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 159,705 in Punjab, 68,004 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18,844 in Balochistan, 41,734 in Islamabad, 9,144 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,913 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 4,840 individuals have lost their lives in Punjab, 4,059 in Sindh, 1,941 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 196 in Balochistan, 478 in Islamabad, 270 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 102 in Gilgit Baltistan.

Pakistan has so far conducted 8,122,447 coronavirus tests and 37,020 during the last 24 hours.

Global developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Red Cross help -

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launches a plan to get 500 million people vaccinated, saying that leaving the world's poorest exposed to the virus could backfire spectacularly.

- Sputnik V in Iran, West Bank -

The first batch of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine arrives in Iran, the Middle East country hardest hit by the pandemic, whose supreme leader has ruled out using jabs made by Western countries.

The Palestinian Authority also receives 10,000 doses of the vaccine in the West Bank. 

- WHO to 'follow facts' -

The head of a World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the pandemic in Wuhan, China, says it will "follow facts" and not "start following and chasing ghosts". 

Peter Ben Embarek was speaking after the investigators visited the Wuhan lab which Donald Trump controversially claimed might have been the source of the virus.

- More vaccine problems ahead: EU -

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warns that more production and supply problems lie ahead as the EU seeks to boost its sluggish Covid vaccination campaign.

- AstraZeneca for under 65s -

Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway become the latest European countries to limit AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine to people aged under 65, despite the EU approving it for all ages.

- Macron warns on Chinese vaccines -

French President Emmanuel Macron warns about the lack of information about China's coronavirus vaccines, saying they might even encourage the development of variants if they are not effective.

- S.Africa variant in Tyrol -

Austria's government says the highly transmissible South African coronavirus variant has been detected in 75 tests in the western Tyrol region, where there is an "acute and serious" situation.

- Decline in Portugal -

Portugal, hit by the world's highest per capita Covid-19 death rates and infections in recent weeks, is now seeing a decline in cases, the health minister Marta Temido says, the country recording 225 new deaths on Thursday, its lowest daily toll for two weeks.

- More than 2.2 million dead -

The coronavirus has killed more than 2,269,346 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

The countries with the most deaths are the US at 450,805, followed by Brazil with 227,563 and Mexico with 161,240.

The global death toll, calculated from official daily figures published by national health authorities, is an underestimate and does not include later revisions by statistics agencies.

With inputs from AFP.