Courtesy PID
Confirmed infections reach 672,931, against 605,274 recoveries and 14,530 deaths, leaving 53,127 active cases
Pakistan on Thursday reported 4,974 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 50,055 tests—a positivity ratio of 9.94 percent.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday advised the federal government to impose a two-week lockdown and ban inter-provincial travel to prevent the U.K. variant sweeping through Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces from spreading elsewhere. A meeting of the National Coordination Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, dismissed this suggestion, claiming a total lockdown would hurt laborers’ ability to earn a living.
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 – 672,931 (Tests: 10,247,374)
Punjab – 223,181
Sindh – 265,680
Balochistan – 19,576
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 88,099
Islamabad – 58,557
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5,033
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 12,805
Deaths – 14,530
Recoveries – 605,274
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Thursday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 672,931. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 98 to 14,530. At the same time, recoveries increased by 2,148 to 605,274, or 89.9 percent of total infections. There are currently 53,127 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 3,303 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Thursday, authorities reported 62 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 6,427. The province now has 223,181 confirmed cases; it reported 2,789 new infections after conducting 22,624 tests, a positivity ratio of 12.33 percent. There were 1,294 new recoveries recorded, leaving 189,856 fully recovered, and 26,898 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 265,680; it reported 247 new infections on Thursday after conducting 9,634 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.56 percent. The province reported 5 new deaths, raising toll to 4,502, while its recoveries rose by 224 to 256,276. Overall, the province now has 4,902 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 1,044 new infections after conducting 8,672 tests, a positivity ratio of 12.04 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 88,099. It recorded 21 new deaths, raising toll to 2,363, while its recoveries have risen by 408 to 76,640. There are currently 9,096 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Thursday raised its confirmed cases to 19,576 with 19 new infections after conducting 367 tests, a positivity ratio of 5.2 percent. There was 1 death and 16 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 208 fatalities and 19,106 fully recovered. There are now 262 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Thursday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 724 to 58,557 after conducting 7,564 tests; a positivity ratio of 9.57 percent. There were 4 deaths and 126 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 572 casualties; 47,584 recovered; and 10,401 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 9 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday after conducting 312 tests; it now has 5,033 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths or recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,867 fully recovered people. There are currently 63 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 142 to 12,805 after conducting 882 tests, a positivity ratio of 16.09 percent. There were 3 deaths and 80 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 355 fatalities and 10,945 fully recovered. It now has 1,505 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 129,471,257 people, with over 2,828,154 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 104,424,134 patients of the 129.5 million+ infected have recovered thus far.