Amid reports of a spike in coronavirus cases, another 43 people lost their lives to the Covid-19 whereas 1,786 new infections were reported across Pakistan during the last 24 hours (Tuesday), showed the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday morning.

As per the NCOC latest data, after the addition of 43 new fatalities the death toll has now surged to 13,324 while the number of total confirmed cases stood at 595,239, after adding 1,786 fresh infections.

During the past 24 hours (Tuesday), 1,393 patients have recovered from the coronavirus while the number of total recoveries stood at 565,216. The total count of active cases across Pakistan was 16,699.

As many as 260,150 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 179,654 in Punjab, 74,433 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 46,229 in Islamabad, 19,141 in Balochistan, 10,673 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,959 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 5,629 individuals have so far lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,442 in Sindh, 2,122 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 512 in Islamabad, 314 in Azad Kashmir, 202 in Balochistan and 103 in Gilgit Baltistan.

A total of 39,425 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Tuesday) while 9,318,038 samples have so far been tested.

The NCOC has decided to review the decision to reopen the schools amid the rising trend of Covid-19 cases across the country. 

Brazil notches new record

Brazil broke its record for new daily Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday with nearly 2,000 fatalities, as the pandemic overwhelms hospitals and vaccinations progress slowly.

The Health Ministry reported a daily total of 1,972 new deaths in the country, which has the world's second-highest overall toll, exceeded only by the United States.

It also reported 70,764 new cases of Covid-19, meaning 11.1 million people have now caught the virus in the country, while a total of 268,370 have died.

The previous daily death record was set on March 3 with just over 1,900 fatalities. The figure has been rising steadily over the past two weeks.

Brazil is facing a dire situation with intensive care units more than 80 percent occupied in 25 of Brazil's 27 capital cities, according to a report released Tuesday by public health institute Fiocruz.

"The fight against Covid-19 was lost in 2020 and there is not the slightest chance of reversing this tragic circumstance in the first half of 2021," epidemiologist Jesem Orellana of Fiocruz/Amazonia told AFP.

Global developments
These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- US stimulus vote -
The US House of Representatives sets its final vote on the $1.9 trillion Covid rescue package for Wednesday, and it will likely be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature this week.

- Estonia in partial lockdown -
The Baltic state of Estonia's government declares a partial lockdown until April 11, after its per-capita coronavirus infection rate rises to the second highest in the world.

- Targeted lockdowns for Manilla -
Targeted coronavirus lockdowns are expanded in the Philippine capital Manilla and night-time curfews reintroduced in hot spots as authorities battle the highest resurgence in infections in five months.

- Sudan vaccinates -
Sudan, the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to receive vaccines through the COVAX scheme for poor countries, begins inoculating frontline healthcare workers against coronavirus.

- Moscow denies disinformation -
Moscow denies as "absurd and groundless" a US claim that it is spearheading a disinformation campaign against US-made coronavirus vaccines to boost its own homegrown jab. 

- Violence against women -
Violence against women "has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic", acccording to the World Health Organization's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

- 'Anti-vax hysteria'
Ukraine's health minister blames "anti-vax hysteria" for a sluggish mass coronavirus inoculation campaign, after only 19,000 people -- mostly medical workers -- received the jab over the first two weeks of the campaign.

- Spanish arrivals ban -
Spain extends its ban on arrivals from Britain, Brazil and South Africa until the end of March to avoid the spread of new coronavirus strains.

- South Africa's economy contracts -
South Africa's economy recorded its first annual contraction in 11 years in 2020, shrinking by 7.0 percent, due to the coronavirus pandemic but rebounded in the last two quarters.

- 2.6 million dead -
At least 2,600,802 people have died of coronavirus around the world since the outbreak began in December 2019, an AFP tally from official sources showed on Tuesday. 

The United States is the worst-affected country with 525,816 deaths followed by Brazil (266,398), Mexico (190,923), India (157,930) and Britain (124,566).

With inputs from AFP.