Coronavirus infections, positivity ratio take a big plunge in Pakistan

The latest wave of coronavirus pandemic was taking its last breaths in Pakistan as almost all the indicators have come down as a house of cards during the last 24 hours.

According to the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday morning, Pakistan has added up 378 infections during the last 24 hours (Monday) which was about half of the country has been registering every day for the past many weeks, automatically bringing down the infectivity rate to way down to 1.29 percent. Pakistan has also reported nine deaths.

As per the latest NCOC data, after the addition of nine new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 30,281 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,515,392 after adding the fresh 378 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Monday), 29,216 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio sharply dropped to 1.29 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 778.

Statistics 8 Mar 22:
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 29,216
Positive Cases: 378
Positivity %: 1.29%
Deaths :9
Patients on Critical Care: 778

— NFRCC (@NFRCCofficial) March 8, 2022

During the last 24 hours (Monday), as many as 603 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,455,765. As of Tuesday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 29,346.

As many as 570,353 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 502,968 in Punjab, 217,304 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 134,662 in Islamabad, 35,398 in Balochistan, 43,125 in Azad Kashmir and 11,582 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,530 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,085 in Sindh, 6,291 in KP, 1,019 in Islamabad, 788 in Azad Kashmir, 377 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

 

Global developments
Here are the global developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Peak in China -
China reports its highest number of coronavirus cases -- more than 500 -- in two years as clusters emerge in more than a dozen cities, posing a fresh challenge to Beijing's zero-Covid policy.

- Hong Kong exodus -
A record 71,000 people -- including 63,000 residents -- fled Hong Kong in February, amid fears infected children could be separated from their parents as the city follows China's orders to curb a severe Covid-19 outbreak.

- Queen Elizabeth II meets in person -
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II meets visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, her first in-person engagement since falling ill with Covid-19.

- Bali re-opens -
Bali scraps quarantine for vaccinated tourists from more than 20 countries and reintroduces visas on arrival as the Indonesian holiday island pushes ahead with re-opening after two years of Covid curbs.

- Moderna's first African facility -
Moderna announces that it will build its first mRNA jab-manufacturing facility in Africa after signing an agreement with Kenya to produce up to 500 million doses a year.

The deal is expected to facilitate access to vaccines in Africa, where under 13 percent of the population is fully immunised, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

- Nearly six million dead -
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,997,529 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources on Monday.

The United States has recorded the most Covid deaths with 958,621, followed by Brazil on 652,143 and India with 515,102.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid, the WHO estimates the true death toll could be two to three times higher.

With inputs from AFP.