Courtesy PID
Confirmed infections reach 778,238, against 676,605 recoveries and 16,698 deaths, leaving 84,935 active cases
Pakistan on Thursday reported 5,857 new infections of the novel coronavirus after conducting 57,591 tests—a positivity ratio of 10.17 percent.
Sindh Health Minister Dr. Azra Pechuho on Wednesday issued a video statement warning that 50 percent of the samples of a COVID-19 genomic study of Karachi were that of the U.K variant. Stressing that this “spreads very rapidly”—the U.K. variant is responsible for the surge in infections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa—she urged the public to exercise “great care” as it is causing a lot of deaths. The same day, Planning Minister Asad Umar warned that the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) would have no choice but to shut down major cities of Pakistan if the current trends did not improve, adding that the country was nearing capacity of its healthcare infrastructure. “We have a margin of a few days,” he warned.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 778,238 (Tests: 11,377,423)
Punjab – 279,437
Sindh – 275,081
Balochistan – 21,242
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 109,704
Islamabad – 71,533
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5,215
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 16,026
Deaths – 16,698
Recoveries – 676,605
In the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m., Thursday, Pakistan’s confirmed cases climbed to 778,238. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 98 to 16,698. At the same time, recoveries increased by 3,986 to 676,605, or 86.9 percent of total infections. There are currently 84,935 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 4,593 of them are in critical condition.
Punjab
On Thursday, authorities reported 54 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 7,718. The province now has 279,437 confirmed cases; it reported 2,902 new infections after conducting 28,829 tests, a positivity ratio of 10.1 percent. There were 2,351 new recoveries recorded, leaving 226,380 fully recovered, and 45,339 active cases of the virus.
Sindh
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 275,081; it reported 885 new infections on Thursday after conducting 12,881 tests, a positivity ratio of 6.87 percent. The province reported 3 new deaths, raising toll to 4,562, while its recoveries rose by 246 to 261,298. Overall, the province now has 9,221 active cases of the novel coronavirus.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In the past 24 hours, the provincial government recorded 1,242 new infections after conducting 8,007 tests, a positivity ratio of 15.51 percent. Overall, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 109,704. It recorded 37 new deaths and 847 recoveries, raising toll to 2,990 and recoveries to 92,687. There are currently 14,027 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Balochistan
The province on Thursday raised its confirmed cases to 21,242 with 115 new infections after conducting 1,096 tests, a positivity ratio of 10.49 percent. There was 1 death and 60 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 226 fatalities and 19,957 fully recovered. There are now 1,059 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Federal Areas
Islamabad on Thursday raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 549 to 71,533 after conducting 5,344 tests; a positivity ratio of 10.27 percent. There were no deaths and 348 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 649 casualties; 57,979 recovered; and 12,905 active cases.
Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday recorded 11 new cases of COVID-19 after conducting 348 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.16 percent; it now has 5,215 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths and 4 recoveries, leaving 104 fatalities and 5,001 fully recovered people. There are currently 110 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 153 to 16,026 after conducting 1,086 tests, a positivity ratio of 14.09 percent. There were 3 deaths and 130 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 449 fatalities and 13,303 fully recovered. It now has 2,274 active cases of COVID-19.
Global situation
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 144,432,864 people, with over 3,071,631 reported deaths. After having passed through two waves of the pandemic, the world is divided between countries that are either in the midst of a third wave driven by mutated variants, or have launched mass vaccination drives that are allowing them to reopen safely. Overall, around 122,628,259 patients of the 144.4 million+ infected have recovered thus far.