File photo
Confirmed infections reach 619,259, against 578,314 recoveries and 13,757 deaths, leaving 27,188 active cases
Pakistan on Friday reported 3,449 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 42,845 tests—a positivity ratio of 8.05 percent.
Planning Minister Asad Umar on Thursday warned of harsher restrictions, including halt to commercial activities, if the public continued to ignore SOPs amid a sustained spike in the national positivity ratio. In a posting on Twitter, he stressed that new strain “spreads faster and is more deadly.”
Despite passing through two waves of COVID-19, Pakistan has yet to fully utilize its claimed testing capacity of 61,177, 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 – 619,259 (Tests: 9,691,087)
Punjab – 193,054
Sindh – 262,503
Balochistan – 19,290
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 77,972
Islamabad – 50,096
Gilgit-Baltistan – 4,967
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 11,377
Deaths – 13,757
Recoveries – 578,314
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Friday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 619,259. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 40 to 13,757. At the same time, recoveries increased by 813 to 578,314, or 93.4 percent of total infections. There are currently 27,188 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 2,064 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Friday, authorities reported 23 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 5,919. The province now has 193,054 confirmed cases; it reported 1,868 new infections after conducting 15,818 tests, a positivity ratio of 11.81 percent. There were 297 new recoveries recorded, leaving 174,566 fully recovered, and 12,569 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 262,503; it reported 296 new infections on Friday after conducting 10,527 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.81 percent. The province reported 4 new deaths, raising toll to 4,473, while its recoveries rose by 73 to 253,310. Overall, the province now has 4,720 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 529 new infections after conducting 7,443 tests, a positivity ratio of 7.1 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 77,972. It recorded 8 new deaths, raising toll to 2,196, while its recoveries have risen by 221 to 71,518. There are currently 4,258 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Friday raised its confirmed cases to 19,290 with 21 new infections after conducting 453 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.63 percent. There were no deaths and 2 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 202 fatalities and 18,910 fully recovered. There are now 178 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Friday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 620 to 50,096 after conducting 7,291 tests; a positivity ratio of 8.5 percent. There were 5 deaths and 148 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 536 casualties; 44,976 recovered; and 4,584 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 2 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday after conducting 289 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.69 percent; it now has 4,967 confirmed cases. The region reported no deaths or recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,856 fully recovered people. There are currently 8 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 113 to 11,377 after conducting 1,024 tests, a positivity ratio of 11.03 percent. There were no deaths and 72 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 328 fatalities and 10,178 fully recovered. It now has 817 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 122,376,706 people, with over 2,703,252 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 98,662,112 patients of the 122.4 million+ infected have recovered thus far.