Pakistan has once again recorded not a single death from coronavirus while the number of single-day infections stood at 155 which is lowest in many many months from the coronavirus pandemic during the last 24 hours (Monday), showed the figures released by the National Institute of Health Pakistan on Tuesday morning.

As per the latest NIH data, the death toll from the coronavirus remained unchanged for the second consecutive day at 30,361, whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,525,775 after adding the fresh 155 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Monday), 22,994 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.66 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 321.

https://twitter.com/NIH_Pakistan/status/1511139061582471169

During the last 24 hours (Monday), as many as 61 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,486,252. As of Tuesday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 9,162.

As many as 575,872 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 505,186 in Punjab, 219,146 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 135,099 in Islamabad, 35,478 in Balochistan, 43,280 in Azad Kashmir and 11,714 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 13,558 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,097 in Sindh, 6,322 in KP, 1,023 in Islamabad, 792 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

South Africa ends all pandemic legal curbs

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced that all Covid-19 pandemic legal restrictions would end at midnight, declaring it was time to resume growing the economy.

Ramaphosa said his country, which is the hardest hit on the continent, has seen death rates plunge from an average daily high of 420 in July last year to just 12 in the past week.

Government "decided to terminate the national state of disaster with effect from midnight tonight" which has been in place since March 15, 2020, he said in a televised address.

"We are hopeful that the worst is behind us, and  we are confident that there are only better days ahead.

"Now is the time to grow our economy and create jobs... to get our country back on track. 

"Now is the time to heal, to recover and to rebuild," he said in a televised address to the nation.

South Africa's already struggling economy was worsened by the pandemic, with unemployment rate rising to a record 35.3 percent during the last three months of 2021.

"Although the pandemic is not over, and although we continue to remain cautious, we can be confident that we are in a better position now than we have been at any other time over the last 750 days," said Ramaphosa.

However some "transitional" measures such as mask-wearing in indoor spaces will remain in place for the next 30 days.

South Africa is the continent's most infected, counting more than 3.7 million coronavirus cases or more than 30 percent of Africa's over 11.3 million cases.

So far 100,052 covid-related deaths have been recorded, but researchers say the actual fatalities could be triple the reported figures.

On Monday it recorded 685 cases and just two deaths.

Germany makes Covid quarantine voluntary from May 1

Germany will no longer impose compulsory quarantines on people infected with the coronavirus from May 1, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Monday.

Isolation remains "strongly recommended", said Lauterbach, but he added that it will from next month be done "on a voluntary basis".

"The current rules work but (it) is not necessary in the long term," he said. 

The only exceptions are employees of medical institutions, who must continue to isolate for five days if they catch the virus, he said.

Infection numbers in Germany remain high, but with most cases reported to be mild, hospitals have not been overwhelmed. 

As a result, Europe's biggest economy has relaxed coronavirus curbs, lifting a requirement to wear masks in shops or schools.

An initial drive by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government for compulsory vaccinations has also petered out.

As a proposal to introduce mandatory jabs for over-18s was unlikely to win a majority in parliament, the government committee working on the plan has scaled down its ambitions to look at compulsory vaccinations for over-50s.

With inputs from AFP.