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Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 850,131, against 747,755 recoveries and 18,677 deaths, leaving 83,699 active cases
Pakistan on Friday reported 4,298 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 44,846 tests—a positivity ratio of 9.58 percent.
Sindh and Islamabad on Thursday joined Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in announcing “complete” lockdowns over the Eid break—May 8-16—in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. While the federal capital will go under lockdown as part of the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” campaign from 6 p.m. today (Friday), Sindh has granted an additional day for businesses to continue operations under SOPs, with the province to go under lockdown from Saturday evening. The government has repeatedly asserted that the next few weeks are critical and if the public does not exercise caution, Pakistan risks a situation like that currently unfolding in neighboring India.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 850,131 (Tests: 12,101,832)
Punjab – 314,517
Sindh – 289,646
Balochistan – 23,016
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 122,520
Islamabad – 77,414
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5,358
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 17,660
Deaths – 18,677
Recoveries – 747,755
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Friday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 850,131. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 140 to 18,677. At the same time, recoveries increased by 4,631 to 747,755, or 88 percent of total infections. There are currently 83,699 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 5,177 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Friday, authorities reported 82 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 8,891. The province now has 314,517 confirmed cases; it reported 1,995 new infections. There were 2,092 new recoveries recorded, leaving 264,647 fully recovered, and 40,979 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 289,646; it reported 966 new infections on Friday. The province reported 7 deaths, raising toll to 4,698, while its recoveries rose by 806 to 267,524. Overall, the province now has 17,424 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 792 new infections. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 122,520. It recorded 40 new deaths and 1,092 recoveries, raising toll to 3,537 and recoveries to 108,462. There are currently 10,521 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Friday raised its confirmed cases to 23,016 with 116 new infections. There were 3 deaths and 95 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 243 fatalities and 21,361 fully recovered. There are now 1,412 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Friday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 349 to 77,414. There was 3 deaths and 455 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 702 casualties; 65,524 recovered; and 11,188 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday recorded 3 new cases of COVID-19; it now has 5,358 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths and 4 recoveries, leaving 107 fatalities and 5,139 fully recovered people. There are currently 112 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 77 to 17,660. There were 5 deaths and 87 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 499 fatalities and 15,098 fully recovered. It now has 2,063 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 156,707,444 people, with over 3,269,813 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 134,088,635 patients of the 156.7 million+ infected have recovered thus far.