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Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 1,524,973, against 1,485,924 recoveries and 30,359 deaths, leaving 8,690 active cases
Pakistan on Friday reported 180 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 29,315 tests—a positivity ratio of 0.61 percent.
The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which had been overseeing Pakistan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ceased operations on Thursday in light of the country’s prevailing indicators hitting an “all-time low.” In a statement on Twitter, Planning Minister Asad Umar, who had headed the forum, said Pakistan had been able to overcome the “unprecedented” challenge of COVID-19. “Today is the last day of NCOC operation. With COVID indicators at all-time lows and high level of vaccination, baton now being passed on to health ministry,” he said. “Makes me immensely proud as a Pakistani that Pak received praise for its COVID response as one of the most successful in the world from global agencies and personalities,” he added.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 1,524,973 (Tests: 27,501,885)
Punjab – 505,054
Sindh – 575,331
Balochistan – 35,474
Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa – 219,062
Islamabad – 135,075
Gilgit-Baltistan – 11,708
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 43,269
Deaths – 30,359
Recoveries – 1,485,924
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Friday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 1,524,973. Meanwhile, there were 4 deaths reported, raising toll to 30,359. At the same time, recoveries increased by 189 to 1,485,924, or 97.4 percent of total infections. There are currently 8,690 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 403 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Friday, authorities reported 1 death due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 13,557. The province now has 505,054 confirmed cases; it reported 51 new infections after administering 15,003 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.34 percent. There were 20 new recoveries recorded, leaving 490,456 fully recovered, and 1,041 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh rose to 575,331 on Friday after it reported 74 new infections with 4,183 tests, a positivity ratio of 1.77 percent. The province reported 1 death and 141 recoveries, leaving 8,097 deaths and 560,392 total recovered. Overall, the province now has 6,842 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Friday reported 36 new cases after administering 7,413 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.48 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 219,062. It recorded 2 new deaths and 12 recoveries, raising toll to 6,321 and recoveries to 212,127. There are currently 614 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Friday maintained its total confirmed cases at 35,474, reporting 2 new infections after conducting 280 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.71 percent. There were no deaths or recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 378 fatalities and 35,088 fully recovered. There are now 8 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Friday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases to 135,075, reporting 3 new cases after conducting 1,634 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.18 percent. There were no deaths and 12 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 1,023 casualties; 133,932 recovered; and 120 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 6 new cases of coronavirus on Friday after conducting 509 tests, a positivity ratio of 1.18 percent; it currently has 11,708 confirmed cases. There were no deaths or recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 191 fatalities; 11,481 fully recovered people; and 36 active cases of COVID-19.
Pakistan-administered Kashmir has reported 8 new cases of COVID-19 after administering 293 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.7%, raising confirmed cases to 43,269. There were no deaths and 4 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 792 fatalities and 42,448 fully recovered. It now has 29 active cases of COVID-19.
Across the world
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 488,659,217 people, with over 6,167,162 reported deaths. As the world recovers from a fifth wave of the pandemic caused by the highly infectious Omicron variant, with some observers claiming its rapid spread has provided “short-term immunity” to large segments of the global population, the World Health Organization continues to call 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. The global health body has stressed that deploying vaccine boosters for the already vaccinated does not help counter the mutation of new variants in populations that have yet to be inoculated and warned that if everyone isn’t safe, then no one is. Overall, around 423,625,152 patients of the 488.7 million+ infected have recovered thus far.