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Confirmed infections of COVID-19 reach 1,280,822, against 1,229,683 recoveries and 28,638 deaths, leaving 22,501 active cases
Pakistan on Thursday reported 460 new infections of COVID-19 after conducting 41,131 tests—a positivity ratio of 1.12 percent.
A senior official of the World Health Organization this week said that the delta variant of COVID-19—originally identified in India—is now the most prevalent strain of the virus in the world. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID, said that almost all of the nearly 900,000 COVID cases sequenced worldwide over the last 60 days had originated from the delta strain. She said that while there were two more variants of interest, delta “takes over” in any location it is present in.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 1,280,822 (Tests: 21,525,597)
Punjab – 442,162
Sindh – 473,561
Balochistan – 33,422
Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa – 179,346
Islamabad – 107,406
Gilgit-Baltistan – 10,404
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 34,521
Deaths – 28,638
Recoveries – 1,229,683
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Thursday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 1,280,822. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 10 to 28,638. At the same time, recoveries increased by 336 to 1,229,683, or 96 percent of total infections. There are currently 22,501 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 1,044 of them require critical care.
Punjab
On Thursday, authorities reported 2 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 12,986. The province now has 442,162 confirmed cases; it reported 94 new infections after administering 14,351 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.65 percent. There were 157 new recoveries recorded, leaving 421,952 fully recovered, and 7,224 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 473,561; it reported 268 new infections on Thursday after conducting 12,714 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.11 percent. The province reported 4 deaths, raising toll to 7,609, and 59 new recoveries, achieving 452,518 total recovered. Overall, the province now has 13,434 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
The provincial government on Thursday reported 70 new cases after administering 9,009 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.78 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 179,346. It recorded 4 new deaths and 81 recoveries, raising toll to 5,809 and achieving recoveries of 172,164. There are currently 1,373 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Thursday maintained its total confirmed cases at 33,422, reporting no new infections after conducting 570 tests. There were no deaths and 8 recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 358 fatalities and 32,974 fully recovered. There are now 90 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Thursday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 23 to 107,406 after conducting 3,942 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.58 percent. There was no deaths and 26 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 949 casualties; 106,138 recovered; and 319 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported 1 new case of coronavirus on Thursday after conducting 378 tests, a positivity ratio of 0.26 percent; it currently has 10,404 confirmed cases. There were no deaths or recoveries reported in the past 24 hours, leaving 186 fatalities; 10,198 fully recovered people; and 20 active cases of COVID-19.
Pakistan-administered Kashmir reported 4 new cases of COVID-19 after administering 167 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.4 percent. There were no deaths and 5 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 741 fatalities and 33,739 fully recovered. It now has 41 active cases of COVID-19.
Across the world
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 255,731,421 people, with over 5,138,953 reported deaths. After having passed through multiple waves of the pandemic, the world is divided between countries that are either in the midst of new waves driven by mutated variants, or have launched mass vaccination drives that are allowing them to reopen safely. There are mounting calls, including 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 curb the spread of new mutated variants. Overall, around 231,122,256 patients of the 255.7 million+ infected have recovered thus far.