Courtesy PID
Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 1,058,405, against 954,711 recoveries and 23,702 deaths, leaving 79,992 active cases
Pakistan on Friday reported 4,745 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 57,981 tests—a positivity ratio of 8.2 percent.
Sindh Health Department officials have acknowledged that due to the large influx of citizens seeking vaccinations in the past week—motivated by the provincial government’s threats of blocking SIM cards and halting salaries of unvaccinated people—capital Karachi has faced intermittent shortages of the Sinopharm, Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. For now, say the officials, they are relying on the Moderna vaccine that was donated to Pakistan by the U.S. last month. Earlier this week, the federal government had said it aims to procure over 30 million vaccine doses for the month of August to prevent any shortages, which end up boosting vaccine hesitancy.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 1,058,405 (Tests: 16,336,171)
Punjab – 361,458
Sindh – 394,748
Balochistan – 30,967
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 147,026
Islamabad – 89,569
Gilgit-Baltistan – 8,551
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 26,086
Deaths – 23,702
Recoveries – 954,711
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Friday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 1,058,405. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 67 to 23,702. At the same time, recoveries increased by 2,095 to 954,711, or 90.2 percent of total infections. There are currently 79,992 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 4,157 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Friday, authorities reported 19 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 11,141. The province now has 361,458 confirmed cases; it reported 964 new infections after conducting 20,946 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.6 percent. There were 294 new recoveries recorded, leaving 334,599 fully recovered, and 15,718 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 394,748; it reported 2,315 new infections on Friday after administering 16,953 tests, a positivity ratio of 13.6 percent. The province reported 28 deaths, raising toll to 6,126, while its recoveries rose by 992 to 340,371. Overall, the province now has 48,251 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Friday reported 541 new cases after conducting 11,357 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.8 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 147,026. It recorded 12 new deaths and 171 recoveries, raising toll to 4,507 and recoveries to 137,039. There are currently 5,480 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Friday raised its confirmed cases to 30,967 with 87 new infections after conducting 2,424 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.6 percent. There was 1 death and 119 recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 330 fatalities and 29,193 fully recovered. There are now 1,444 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Friday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 452 to 89,569 after conducting 4,247 tests, a positivity ratio of 10.6 percent. There were 2 deaths and 225 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 809 casualties; 84,143 recovered; and 4,617 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday recorded 78 new cases of COVID-19 after conducting 750 tests, a positivity ratio of 10.4 percent; it now has 8,551 confirmed cases. The region reported 2 deaths and 108 recoveries, leaving 150 fatalities and 7,575 fully recovered people. There are currently 826 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 308 to 26,086 after administering 1,304 tests, a positivity ratio of 23.6 percent. There were 3 deaths and 186 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 639 fatalities and 21,791 fully recovered. It now has 3,656 active cases of COVID-19.
Across the world
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 201,712,187 people, with over 4,280,563 reported deaths. After having passed through multiple waves of the pandemic, the world is divided between countries that are either in the midst of new waves driven by mutated variants, or have launched mass vaccination drives that are allowing them to reopen safely. There are mounting calls, including from the World Health Organization, for “vaccine equality,” i.e. for developed nations to stop hoarding vaccines in excess of their requirements and to share them with the developing world to help curb the spread of new mutated variants, especially the Delta variant that is now driving the bulk of confirmed infections globally. Overall, around 181,469,854 patients of the 201.7 million+ infected have recovered thus far.