Pakistan has reported a steep rise in number of daily coronavirus infections and fatalities as the country posted 624 Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the statistics released by the National Institute of Health Pakistan on Friday morning, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Nine of the eleven deaths were reported from Sindh and one each from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

As per the NIH data, the death toll in the country skyrocketed to 30,520 after adding the 11 new fatalities while the number of total infections now stood at 1,561,579 after adding the fresh 624 cases.

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), 16,299 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 3.83 percent. The number of patients in critical care was recorded at 142.

https://twitter.com/NIH_Pakistan/status/1557900231559225344

During the last 24 hours (Thursday), another 1,068 patients have recovered from the Covid-19 in Pakistan and the number of total recoveries now stood at 1,521,803. As of Friday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 9,256.

As many as 592,166 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 517,328 in Punjab, 222,159 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 138,186 in Islamabad, 35,867 in Balochistan, 43,936 in Azad Kashmir and 11,937 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

As many as 13,591 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 8,206 in Sindh, 6,333 in KP, 1,028 in Islamabad, 793 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in Gilgit Baltistan.

India reports 16,561 fresh Covid cases

India recorded 16,561 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours. According to the data shared by the Health Ministry on Friday (August 12), the total recovery rate reached at around 98.53 percent and total recoveries data reached to 4,35,73,094.

The total active cases of Covid-19 in India have decreased to 1,23,535, the health ministry data showed today. Yesterday, the registered active cases were 1,25,076.

A decrease of 1,541 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.28 percent of the total infections, the ministry said. 

The total death toll in the country is now at 5,26,928. In India, the first death due to the Covid pandemic was reported in March 2020.

The daily positivity rate on August 12 was recorded 5.44 percent. 

Delhi's rising Covid tally

New Delhi will enforce a mask mandate again after Covid-19 infections rose in the past fortnight, a government order showed on Thursday, though a similar order in April failed to improve compliance.

People caught without masks in public in the Indian capital will have to pay a fine of 500 rupees (US$6), the order dated Aug 8 and shared with reporters on Thursday, said. Presently, mask-wearing is uncommon even in shopping malls and crowded markets. New Delhi reported 2,146 new infections in the past 24 hours and eight deaths, the worst figures among Indian states and federal territories.

The country reported 16,299 new infections during the period, taking the cumulative total to 44.2 million, while deaths rose by 53 to 526,879. The actual numbers are believed to be multiple times higher.