Courtesy PID
Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 913,784, against 834,566 recoveries and 20,607 deaths, leaving 58,611 active cases
Pakistan on Friday reported 2,482 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 51,625 tests—a positivity ratio of 4.8 percent.
The Punjab Health Department announced on Thursday that officials would start randomly testing people for the coronavirus in public places across the province, including markets, shopping malls and other places that attract crowds. It said that this sampling would help the government review the situation of the third wave of the pandemic. According to the statement, health officials have been directed to collect 10,000 samples—with half of them to be collected from provincial capital Lahore alone.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 913,784 (Tests: 13,057,951)
Punjab – 337,775
Sindh – 314,158
Balochistan – 24,908
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 131,411
Islamabad – 80,927
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5,545
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 19,060
Deaths – 20,607
Recoveries – 834,566
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Friday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 913,784. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 67 to 20,607. At the same time, recoveries increased by 2,822 to 834,566, or 91.3 percent of total infections. There are currently 58,611 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 4,132 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Friday, authorities reported 26 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 9,925. The province now has 337,775 confirmed cases; it reported 702 new infections after conducting 20,903 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.36 percent. There were 1,167 new recoveries recorded, leaving 307,716 fully recovered, and 20,134 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 314,158; it reported 1,099 new infections on Friday after administering 14,529 tests, a positivity ratio of 7.56 percent. The province reported 22 deaths, raising toll to 4,988, while its recoveries rose by 708 to 285,403. Overall, the province now has 23,767 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 384 new infections after conducting 8,110 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.73 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 131,411. It recorded 16 new deaths and 305 recoveries, raising toll to 4,025 and recoveries to 121,822. There are currently 5,564 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Friday raised its confirmed cases to 24,908 with 85 new infections after administering 1,450 tests for a positivity ratio of 5.86 percent. There were no deaths and 24 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 273 fatalities and 23,525 fully recovered. There are now 1,110 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Friday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 148 to 80,927 after conducting 5,273 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.81 percent. There were 2 deaths and 526 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 753 casualties; 73,743 recovered; and 6,431 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday recorded 12 new cases of COVID-19 after conducting 490 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.45 percent; it now has 5,545 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths and 2 recoveries, leaving 107 fatalities and 5,326 fully recovered people. There are currently 112 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 52 to 19,060 after administering 870 tests, a positivity ratio of 5.98 percent. There was 1 death and 90 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 536 fatalities and 17,031 fully recovered. It now has 1,493 active cases of COVID-19.
Across the world
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 169,641,108 people, with over 3,525,192 reported deaths. After having passed through two waves of the pandemic, the world is divided between countries that are either in the midst of a third wave 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. Overall, around 151,340,880 patients of the 169.6 million+ infected have recovered thus far.