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Confirmed infections reach 682,888, against 609,691 recoveries and 14,697 deaths, leaving 58,500 active cases
Pakistan on Saturday reported 4,723 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 50,186 tests—a positivity ratio of 9.41 percent.
The United Kingdom on Friday announced that, from April 9, it would only allow British and Irish nationals, and those with residency rights, to enter the U.K. if they were traveling from Pakistan, the Philippines, Kenya or Bangladesh. According to the British foreign office, the “red-list” travel bans are intended to protect Britain from mutated variants of the novel coronavirus; Pakistan is currently in the midst of its third wave primarily due to a strain that originated in the U.K. and spread here through travel.
Despite passing through two waves of COVID-19, Pakistan has yet to fully utilize its claimed testing capacity of 61,577, 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 – 682,888 (Tests: 10,347,730)
Punjab – 228,356
Sindh – 266,173
Balochistan – 19,679
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 90,262
Islamabad – 60,197
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5,045
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 13,176
Deaths – 14,697
Recoveries – 609,691
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Saturday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 682,888. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 84 to 14,697. At the same time, recoveries increased by 2,486 to 609,691, or 89.3 percent of total infections. There are currently 58,500 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 3,490 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Saturday, authorities reported 38 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 6,523. The province now has 228,356 confirmed cases; it reported 2,403 new infections after conducting 23,029 tests, a positivity ratio of 10.44 percent. There were 1,855 new recoveries recorded, leaving 192,452 fully recovered, and 29,381 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 266,173; it reported 256 new infections on Saturday after conducting 9,050 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.83 percent. The province reported 2 new deaths, raising toll to 4,506, while its recoveries rose by 95 to 256,479. Overall, the province now has 5,188 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 1,007 new infections after conducting 8,239 tests, a positivity ratio of 12.22 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 90,262. It recorded 35 new deaths, raising toll to 2,417, while recoveries remained static at 77,166. There are currently 10,679 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Saturday raised its confirmed cases to 19,679 with 69 new infections after conducting 1,156 tests, a positivity ratio of 5.97 percent. There were 2 deaths and 14 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 211 fatalities and 19,136 fully recovered. There are now 332 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Saturday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 796 to 60,197 after conducting 7,491 tests; a positivity ratio of 10.63 percent. There were 2 deaths and 431 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 574 casualties; 48,481 recovered; and 11,142 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported no new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday after conducting 346 tests; it now has 5,045 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths and 12 recoveries, leaving 103 fatalities and 4,879 fully recovered people. There are currently 63 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 192 to 13,176 after conducting 875 tests, a positivity ratio of 21.94 percent. There were 5 deaths and 79 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 363 fatalities and 11,098 fully recovered. It now has 1,715 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 130,810,955 people, with over 2,850,399 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 105,304,521 patients of the 130.8 million+ infected have recovered thus far.