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Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 1,288,366, against 1,250,069 recoveries and 28,812 deaths, leaving 9,485 active cases
Pakistan on Friday reported 313 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 42,978 tests—a positivity ratio of 0.73 percent.
The National Institute of Health on Thursday rebutted reports that Pakistan had confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, maintaining that authorities had yet to conduct genomic sequencing to confirm this. A spokesperson said that some aspects of the infection in a patient from Karachi suggested they might have Omicron, but this would not be confirmed until the sequencing had been completed. According to the Sindh Health Department, the country’s first suspected Omicron case did not have any recent travel history and was unvaccinated.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 1,288,366 (Tests: 22,428,325)
Punjab – 443,747
Sindh – 477,466
Balochistan – 33,522
Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa – 180,564
Islamabad – 108,042
Gilgit-Baltistan – 10,425
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 34,600
Deaths – 28,812
Recoveries – 1,250,069
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Friday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 1,288,366. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 9 to 28,812. At the same time, recoveries increased by 648 to 1,250,069, or 97 percent of total infections. There are currently 9,485 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 758 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Friday, authorities reported 2 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 13,048. The province now has 443,747 confirmed cases; it reported 65 new infections after administering 17,693 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.37 percent. There were 459 new recoveries recorded, leaving 426,985 fully recovered, and 3,714 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 477,466; it reported 167 new infections on Friday after conducting 9,732 tests, a positivity ratio of 1.7 percent. The province reported 1 death and 118 recoveries, raising toll to 7,631 and total recovered to 465,252. Overall, the province now has 4,583 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Friday reported 50 new cases after administering 9,324 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.54 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 180,564. It recorded 5 new deaths and 33 recoveries, raising toll to 5,879 and achieving recoveries of 173,952. There are currently 733 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Friday raised its total confirmed cases to 33,522, reporting 3 new infections after conducting 647 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.46 percent. There was 1 death and 5 recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 363 fatalities and 33,117 fully recovered. There are now 42 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Friday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 20 to 108,042 after conducting 5,082 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.39 percent. There were no deaths and 29 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 962 casualties; 106,725 recovered; and 355 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 3 new cases of coronavirus on Friday after conducting 267 tests, a positivity ratio of 1.12 percent; it currently has 10,425 confirmed cases. There were no deaths or recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 186 fatalities; 10,224 fully recovered people; and 15 active cases of COVID-19.
Pakistan-administered Kashmir reported 5 new cases of COVID-19 after administering 233 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.14 percent. There were no deaths and 4 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 743 fatalities and 33,814 fully recovered. It now has 43 active cases of COVID-19.
Across the world
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 268,740,466 people, with over 5,302,962 reported deaths. After having passed through multiple waves of the pandemic, the world is divided between countries that are struggling to counter mutated variants, or have introduced vaccination boosters to maintain normalcy. There are mounting calls, especially from the World Health Organization, 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 to help prevent the creation of new mutated variants. Overall, around 241,853,345 patients of the 268.7 million+ infected have recovered thus far.