
File photo
Confirmed infections reach 577,482, against 542,393 recoveries and 12,804 deaths, leaving 22,285 active cases
Pakistan on Friday reported 1,541 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 41,849 tests—a positivity ratio of 3.68 percent.
Dr. Nausheen Hamid, the parliamentary secretary for health, on Thursday said that the government had thus far inoculated over 100,000 frontline healthcare workers against the novel coronavirus. In an interview with a private news channel, she said that the situation was expected to improve further once the country received more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Despite passing through two waves of COVID-19, Pakistan has yet to fully utilize its claimed testing capacity of 59,981, 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 – 577,482 (Tests: 8,873,741)
Punjab – 170,222
Sindh – 257,408
Balochistan – 19,035
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 71,728
Islamabad – 44,032
Gilgit-Baltistan – 4,956
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 10,101
Deaths – 12,804
Recoveries – 542,393
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Friday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 577,482. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 32 to 12,804. At the same time, recoveries increased by 2,505 to 542,393, or 93.9 percent of total infections. There are currently 22,285 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 1,558 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Friday, authorities reported 15 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 5,323. The province now has 170,222 confirmed cases; it reported 748 new infections after conducting 18,079 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.14 percent. There were 1,836 new recoveries recorded, leaving 159,295 fully recovered, and 5,604 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 257,408; it reported 319 new infections on Friday after conducting 8,709 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.66 percent. The province reported 7 new deaths, raising toll to 4,322, while its recoveries rose by 307 to 240,983. Overall, the province now has 12,103 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 238 new infections after conducting 6,995 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.4 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 71,728. It recorded 7 new deaths, raising toll to 2,065, while its recoveries have risen by 184 to 67,632. There are currently 2,031 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Friday raised its confirmed cases to 19,035 with 25 new infections after conducting 802 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.12 percent. There was 1 death and 2 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 200 fatalities and 18,734 fully recovered. There are now 101 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Friday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 131 to 44,032 after conducting 6,252 tests; a positivity ratio of 2.09 percent. There were 2 deaths and 125 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 496 casualties; 41,765 recovered; and 1,771 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 1 new case of the novel coronavirus on Friday after conducting 348 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.29 percent; it now has 4,956 confirmed cases. The region reported no deaths and 4 recoveries, leaving 102 fatalities and 4,840 fully recovered people. There are currently 14 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 79 to 10,101 after conducting 664 tests, a positivity ratio of 11.89 percent. There were no deaths and 47 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 296 fatalities and 9,144 fully recovered. It now has 661 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 113,550,202 people, with over 2,519,328 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 89,134,277 patients of the 113.5 million+ infected have recovered thus far.