Courtesy PID
Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 1,498,676, against 1,399,000 recoveries and 29,976 deaths, leaving 69,700 active cases
Pakistan on Saturday reported 1,983 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 47,780 tests—a positivity ratio of 4.15 percent.
A sub-variant of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, BA.2, is now rapidly spreading across the globe, with health officials warning that they have not yet fully understood the risks it could pose to public health. While recent laboratory and animal data has suggested that BA.2 could cause more severe disease than the original omicron variant, countries where the sub-variant is dominant are not seeing higher rates of severe disease, with many seeing cases and hospitalizations decline. The sub-variant, per health officials, has now become the dominant virus in at least 10 countries, including Bangladesh, China, Denmark, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 1,498,676 (Tests: 26,044,959)
Punjab – 498,322
Sindh – 563,314
Balochistan – 35,206
Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa – 214,277
Islamabad – 133,702
Gilgit-Baltistan – 11,320
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 42,535
Deaths – 29,976
Recoveries – 1,399,000
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Saturday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 1,498,676. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 26 to 29,976. At the same time, recoveries increased by 2,782 to 1,399,000, or 93.3 percent of total infections. There are currently 69,700 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 1,439 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Saturday, authorities reported 12 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 13,430. The province now has 498,322 confirmed cases; it reported 502 new infections after administering 18,611 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.7 percent. There were 751 new recoveries recorded, leaving 476,813 fully recovered, and 8,079 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 563,314; it reported 717 new infections on Saturday after conducting 11,881 tests, a positivity ratio of 6 percent. The province reported 7 deaths and 646 recoveries, leaving 8,020 deaths and 508,205 total recovered. Overall, the province now has 47,089 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Saturday reported 515 new cases after administering 11,025 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.67 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 214,277. It recorded 5 new deaths and 654 recoveries, raising toll to 6,182 and recoveries to 196,425. There are currently 11,670 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Saturday raised its total confirmed cases to 35,206, reporting 19 new infections after conducting 599 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.2 percent. There were 2 deaths and 37 recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 373 fatalities and 34,619 fully recovered. There are now 214 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Saturday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases to 133,702, reporting 89 new cases after conducting 4,231 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.1 percent. There were no deaths and 459 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 1,002 casualties; 131,405 recovered; and 1,295 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 35 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday after conducting 352 tests, a positivity ratio of 9.9 percent; it currently has 11,320 confirmed cases. There were no deaths and 115 recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 189 fatalities; 10,848 fully recovered people; and 283 active cases of COVID-19.
Pakistan-administered Kashmir has reported 106 new cases of COVID-19 after administering 1,081 tests, a positivity ratio of 9.8 percent, raising confirmed cases to 42,535. There were no deaths and 120 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 780 fatalities and 40,685 fully recovered. It now has 1,070 active cases of COVID-19.
Across the world
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 422,228,831 people, with over 5,893,042 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 346,697,589 patients of the 422.2 million+ infected have recovered thus far.