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Confirmed infections reach 729,920, against 638,267 recoveries and 15,619 deaths, leaving 76,034 active cases
Pakistan on Tuesday recorded 4,318 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 50,520 tests—a positivity ratio of 8.55 percent.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday announced that Pakistan would receive 15 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine under the COVAX regime by the end of May. It is unclear if these are doses that were supposed to be delivered to Pakistan in March—but were delayed because India stopped exporting vaccines amidst a surge of cases—or are additional doses beyond that commitment.
Despite passing through two waves of COVID-19, Pakistan has yet to fully utilize its claimed testing capacity of 64,771, 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 – 729,920 (Tests: 10,829,994)
Punjab – 252,974
Sindh – 269,474
Balochistan – 20,397
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 100,275
Islamabad – 66,983
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5,130
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 14,687
Deaths – 15,619
Recoveries – 638,267
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Tuesday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 729,920. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 118 to 15,619. At the same time, recoveries increased by 3,432 to 638,267, or 87.4 percent of total infections. There are currently 76,034 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 4,198 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Tuesday, authorities reported 74 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 7,062. The province now has 252,974 confirmed cases; it reported 2,515 new infections after conducting 27,230 tests, a positivity ratio of 9.24 percent. There were 1,952 new recoveries recorded, leaving 205,912 fully recovered, and 40,000 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 269,474; it reported 348 new infections on Tuesday after conducting 8,642 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.03 percent. The province reported no new deaths, maintaining toll at 4,530, while its recoveries rose by 146 to 257,950. Overall, the province now has 6,994 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 680 new infections after conducting 5,896 tests, a positivity ratio of 11.53 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 100,275. It recorded 32 new deaths and 670 recoveries, raising toll to 2,683 and recoveries to 84,522. There are currently 13,070 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Tuesday raised its confirmed cases to 20,397 with 76 new infections after conducting 960 tests, a positivity ratio of 7.92 percent. There were 2 deaths and 22 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 217 fatalities and 19,397 fully recovered. There are now 783 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Tuesday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 603 to 66,983 after conducting 6,251 tests; a positivity ratio of 9.65 percent. There were 6 deaths and 537 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 617 casualties; 53,441 recovered; and 12,925 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday recorded 3 new cases of COVID-19 after conducting 560 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.54 percent; it now has 5,130 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths and 11 recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,928 fully recovered people. There are currently 99 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 93 to 14,687 after conducting 891 tests, a positivity ratio of 10.44 percent. There were 4 deaths and 96 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 407 fatalities and 12,117 fully recovered. It now has 2,163 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 137,265,460 people, with over 2,958,863 reported deaths. After a devastating first wave, the world is now slowly recovering from a second wave of the coronavirus, aided largely by the launch of mass vaccination campaigns. Overall, around 110,458,035 patients of the 137.2 million+ infected have recovered thus far.