Pakistan has reported another 796 coronavirus infections and 10 deaths during the last 24 hours (Friday), showed the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday morning.

As per the latest NCOC statistics, after the addition of 10 new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 30,258 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,513,503 after adding the fresh 796 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Friday), 37,785 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 2.10 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 842.

https://twitter.com/OfficialNcoc/status/1499917236043227141

During the last 24 hours (Friday), as many as 1,831 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,453,496. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 29,749.

As many as 569,737 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 502,455 in Punjab, 216,812 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 134,583 in Islamabad, 35,363 in Balochistan, 43,094 in Azad Kashmir and 11,559 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,518 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,083 in Sindh, 6,286 in KP, 1,016 in Islamabad, 788 in Azad Kashmir, 376 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Hong Kong closes courts -
Hong Kong suspends court services for a month as the city records more than 50,000 new cases for the third consecutive day, its zero-Covid strategy shattered.

- Belgium scraps most curbs -  
Belgium will scrap a requirement for health passes and masks in indoor public places from Monday, because of decreasing cases and a high vaccination rate.

- Irish president positive -
Ireland's poet president Michael D. Higgins, 80, and his wife Sabina test positive.

- US jobs recover -
The US economy sees a hiring surge in February, pushing the jobless rate closer to its pre-pandemic level as hard-hit sectors recover from the impact of Covid-19.

- Bundesliga match postponed -
An outbreak of Covid-19 within the Mainz squad causes Sunday's Bundesliga game against Borussia Dortmund to be rescheduled for March 16.

- Nearly six million dead -
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,980,373 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources on Friday.

The United States has recorded the most Covid deaths with 956,262, followed by Brazil on 650,578 and India with 514,589.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid, the WHO estimates the true death toll could be two to three times higher.

With inputs from AFP.