Courtesy PID
Confirmed infections reach 595,239, against 565,216 recoveries and 13,324 deaths, leaving 16,699 active cases
Pakistan on Wednesday reported 1,786 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 39,425 tests—a positivity ratio of 4.53 percent.
The government is set to commence the vaccination of people 60 and above against COVID-19 from today (Wednesday), with Special Assistant to the P.M. on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan announcing that it would begin with the senior-most citizens who had registered. Authorities have urged registered individuals to wait to receive a text messages with instructions on their cellphones.
Despite passing through two waves of COVID-19, Pakistan has yet to fully utilize its claimed testing capacity of 60,977, 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 – 595,239 (Tests: 9,318,038)
Punjab – 179,654
Sindh – 260,150
Balochistan – 19,141
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 74,433
Islamabad – 46,229
Gilgit-Baltistan – 4,959
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 10,673
Deaths – 13,324
Recoveries – 565,216
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Wednesday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 595,239. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 43 to 13,324. At the same time, recoveries increased by 1,393 to 565,216, or 95 percent of total infections. There are currently 16,699 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 1,664 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Wednesday, authorities reported 29 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 5,629. The province now has 179,654 confirmed cases; it reported 1,006 new infections after conducting 15,260 tests, a positivity ratio of 6.59 percent. There were 766 new recoveries recorded, leaving 167,269 fully recovered, and 6,756 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 260,150; it reported 194 new infections on Wednesday after conducting 7,499 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.59 percent. The province reported 6 new deaths, raising toll to 4,442, while its recoveries rose by 137 to 251,531. Overall, the province now has 4,177 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 266 new infections after conducting 6,012 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.42 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 74,433. It recorded 4 new deaths, raising toll to 2,122, while its recoveries have risen by 322 to 69,849. There are currently 2,462 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Wednesday raised its confirmed cases to 19,141 with 20 new infections after conducting 520 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.85 percent. There was 1 death and 14 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 202 fatalities and 18,842 fully recovered. There are now 97 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Wednesday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 253 to 46,229 after conducting 9,240 tests; a positivity ratio of 2.74 percent. There was 1 death and 110 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 512 casualties; 43,244 recovered; and 2,473 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported no new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday after conducting 264 tests; it now has 4,959 confirmed cases. The region reported 1 death and no new recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,853 fully recovered people. There are currently 3 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 47 to 10,673 after conducting 630 tests, a positivity ratio of 7.46 percent. There was 1 death and 44 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 314 fatalities and 9,628 fully recovered. It now has 731 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 118,161,819 people, with over 2,622,136 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 93,846,272 patients of the 118.2 million+ infected have recovered thus far.