F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Another 50 people died whereas 1,196 more infected by the novel coronavirus in Pakistan during the last 24 hours (Tuesday), showed the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday morning.
As per the latest NCOC figures, the death toll has surged to 12,708 after the addition of 50 more fatalities while the number of total confirmed cases stood at 574,580 after adding, 1,196 infections.
During the past 24 hours (Tuesday), 1,964 patients have recovered from the virus while the number of total recoveries stood at 538,207. The total count of active cases across Pakistan stood at 23,665.
As many as 256,741 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 168,891 in Punjab, 71,282 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 43,753 in Islamabad, 19,004 in Balochistan, 9,955 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,954 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
As many as 5,269 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,301 in Sindh, 2,053 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 494 in Islamabad, 293 in Azad Kashmir, 199 in Balochistan and 102 in Gilgit Baltistan.
A total of 38,453 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Tuesday) while 8,790,986 samples have been tested so far. Global developments These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
– Vaccines progress –
Brazil approves the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the country races to secure enough doses to contain the world’s second most deadly outbreak.
Israel, which tops the vaccine table with more than half its population having had one shot, says it will give a “limited quantity” of unused vaccines to Palestinians.
In other developments, Ukraine — one of the last European countries to begin a vaccine drive — finally receives its first doses and says it will start giving shots straight away.
Afghanistan also launches its vaccination campaign, and the World Health Organization says Syria’s rebel-held northwest will receive its first shipment of jabs by the end of next month.
Meanwhile, India’s Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, despatches its first batch of shots for the Covax programme to help poorer countries.
– Czech crisis –
The Czech Republic is reaching capacity in intensive care wards as infections keep soaring in the EU’s worst-hit country, its health ministry says.
The country tops the world’s per capita infection table over the last 14 days and is second after neighbouring Slovakia for deaths, according to an AFP tally.
– Flying high –
EasyJet shares rally on rocketing flight bookings — soaring 337 percent compared with a week earlier — as the British airline is given a boost by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to begin easing England’s virus lockdown shortly.
– Scots free –
Scotland will look to begin a “substantial” easing of restrictions from April 26, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says.
– Spanish ban extended –
Spain extends its ban on arrivals from Britain, Brazil and South Africa until March 16 to guard against the spread of new strains from these countries.
– Dutch curfew extended –
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says that the controversial overnight curfew imposed by the Netherlands to slow the spread of the coronavirus will be extended until March 15.
– 2.4 million deaths –
The virus has caused at least 2,474,437 deaths around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.
The US is the worst-affected country with 500,313 deaths, followed by Brazil with 247,143, Mexico with 180,536, India with 156,463 and Britain with 120,757.
With inputs from AFP.
