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Confirmed infections reach 667,957, against 603,126 recoveries and 14,434 deaths, leaving 50,397 active cases
Pakistan on Wednesday reported 4,757 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 43,965 tests—a positivity ratio of 10.82 percent.
Pakistan on Tuesday started the process of registering people aged 50-and-above for the country’s coronavirus vaccination drive. Earlier, the government was officially only vaccinating frontline healthcare workers and people over 60. The country has thus far employed the Sinopharm vaccine, but Planning Minister Asad Umar has said that the first batch of the CanSino vaccine has also arrived.
Despite passing through two waves of COVID-19, Pakistan has yet to fully utilize its claimed testing capacity of 61,577, with daily testing significantly below numbers proposed by global health experts. According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan’s testing policies only record the most symptomatic patients—a belief substantiated by a Punjab government official as the “most efficient use of resources”—while ignoring the spread among asymptomatic carriers, which studies suggest comprise the majority of infections nationwide.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 667,957 (Tests: 10,197,329)
Punjab – 220,392
Sindh – 265,443
Balochistan – 19,557
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 87,055
Islamabad – 57,833
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5,024
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 12,663
Deaths – 14,434
Recoveries – 603,126
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Wednesday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 667,957. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 78 to 14,434. At the same time, recoveries increased by 2,848 to 603,126, or 90.3 percent of total infections. There are currently 50,397 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 3,197 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Wednesday, authorities reported 46 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 6,365. The province now has 220,392 confirmed cases; it reported 2,698 new infections after conducting 20,983 tests, a positivity ratio of 12.86 percent. There were 1,577 new recoveries recorded, leaving 188,562 fully recovered, and 25,465 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 265,433; it reported 275 new infections on Wednesday after conducting 7,853 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.5 percent. The province reported 2 new deaths, raising toll to 4,497, while its recoveries rose by 100 to 256,052. Overall, the province now has 4,884 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 1,011 new infections after conducting 7,650 tests, a positivity ratio of 13.21 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 87,055. It recorded 23 new deaths, raising toll to 2,342, while its recoveries have risen by 908 to 76,232. There are currently 8,481 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Wednesday raised its confirmed cases to 19,557 with 22 new infections after conducting 488 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.51 percent. There were no deaths and 23 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 207 fatalities and 19,090 fully recovered. There are now 260 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Wednesday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 629 to 57,833 after conducting 5,976 tests; a positivity ratio of 10.52 percent. There were 5 deaths and 187 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 568 casualties; 47,458 recovered; and 9,807 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 8 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday after conducting 207 tests; it now has 5,024 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths or recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,867 fully recovered people. There are currently 54 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 114 to 12,663 after conducting 808 tests, a positivity ratio of 14.11 percent. There were 2 deaths and 53 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 352 fatalities and 10,865 fully recovered. It now has 1,446 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 128,803,702 people, with over 2,815,991 reported deaths. After a devastating first wave, the world is now slowly recovering from a second wave of the coronavirus, aided in part by the launch of vaccination campaigns. Overall, around 103,941,345 patients of the 128.8 million+ infected have recovered thus far.