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Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 1,312,267, against 1,260,045 recoveries and 28,992 deaths, leaving 23,230 active cases
Pakistan on Thursday reported 3,019 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 49,270 tests—a positivity ratio of 6.13 percent.
Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood is set to meet with his provincial counterparts today (Thursday) to decide whether the ongoing coronavirus situation warrants the closure of schools to curb the spread of the fifth wave of the pandemic, driven by the highly-infectious Omicron variant. In a notification, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training said Mehmood would chair the 34th meeting of the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference to deliberate on a strategy. Earlier, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had rubbished rumors of school closures, saying that the government would not impose another lockdown in Pakistan, as the country’s economy cannot sustain such movement restrictions.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 1,312,267 (Tests: 23,984,502)
Punjab – 449,843
Sindh – 491,743
Balochistan – 33,675
Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa – 181,906
Islamabad – 109,944
Gilgit-Baltistan – 10,437
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 34,719
Deaths – 28,992
Recoveries – 1,260,045
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Thursday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 1,312,267. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 5 to 28,992. At the same time, recoveries increased by 346 to 1,260,045, or 96 percent of total infections. There are currently 23,230 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 651 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Thursday, authorities reported 1 death due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 13,084. The province now has 449,843 confirmed cases; it reported 919 new infections after administering 19,580 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.69 percent. There were 118 new recoveries recorded, leaving 430,130 fully recovered, and 6,629 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 491,743; it reported 1,733 new infections on Thursday after conducting 13,678 tests, a positivity ratio of 12.67 percent. The province reported no deaths and 145 recoveries, leaving 7,691 deaths and 469,353 total recovered. Overall, the province now has 14,699 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Thursday reported 64 new cases after administering 10,160 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.63 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 181,906. It recorded 3 new deaths and 29 recoveries, raising toll to 5,948 and recoveries to 175,335. There are currently 623 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Thursday raised its total confirmed cases to 33,675, reporting 11 new infections after conducting 542 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.03 percent. There were no deaths and 1 recovery reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 367 fatalities and 33,264 fully recovered. There are now 44 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Thursday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases to 109,944, reporting 284 new cases after conducting 4,509 tests, a positivity ratio of 6.3 percent. There were no deaths and 50 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 967 casualties; 107,791 recovered; and 1,186 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 4 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday after conducting 250 tests, a positivity ratio of 1.6 percent; it currently has 10,437 confirmed cases. There were no deaths or recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 186 fatalities; 10,243 fully recovered people; and 8 active cases of COVID-19.
Pakistan-administered Kashmir has reported 4 new cases of COVID-19 after administering 551 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.73 percent, raising confirmed cases to 34,719. There was 1 death and 3 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 749 fatalities and 33,929 fully recovered. It now has 41 active cases of COVID-19.
Across the world
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 317,573,406 people, with over 5,530,657 reported deaths. The globe is in the midst of yet another COVID-19 surge, as the highly infectious Omicron variant that was originally identified in South Africa sweeps across nations. While the new variant has been deemed less deadly than earlier iterations of the coronavirus, health experts have stressed that even a “mild” case can prove debilitating and urged people to exercise caution, wear masks, and avoid large gatherings. 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, stressing 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. Overall, around 262,851,473 patients of the 317.57 million+ infected have recovered thus far.