Weeks after hovering around 50 the number of daily Covid-19 cases has edged up Pakistan reported 69 more Covid-19 infections and no fatality during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the statistics released by the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Friday morning, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The death toll in the country remained the same at 30,625 while the number of total infections now rose to 1,573,922 after adding the fresh 69 cases.
During the last 24 hours (Thursday), 12,739 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 0.54 percent. The number of patients in critical care was recorded at 48.
China locks down part of Wuhan
Security workers wear protective suits outside a residential compound under lockdown in Beijing. Cities across China, including the capital and Wuhan, have imposed controls to tackle Covid outbreaks. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters
Chinese cities from Wuhan in central China to Xining in the north-west are doubling down on Covid-19 curbs, sealing up buildings, locking down districts and throwing millions into distress in a scramble to halt widening outbreaks.
China on Thursday reported a third straight day of more than 1,000 new Covid cases nationwide, a modest tally compared with the tens of thousands a day that sent Shanghai into a full-blown lockdown earlier this year but enough to trigger more curbs and restrictions across the country.
Wuhan, site of the world’s first Covid-19 outbreak in late 2019, reported about 20 to 25 new infections a day this week. The city has registered 240 cases over the past 14 days. Local authorities ordered more than 800,000 people in one district to stay at home until 30 October.
Wuhan also suspended the sale of pork in parts of the city, according to images and posts on social media, after authorities said one Covid case had been linked to the local pork supply chain.
Guangzhou, China’s fourth-biggest city by economic output and the provincial capital of Guangdong, on Thursday sealed up more streets and neighbourhoods and kept people in their homes as new areas were deemed high-risk in a Covid resurgence that has persisted into its fourth week.
In Xining, capital of Qinghai province, social media posts told of food shortages and price inflation for essential goods as health authorities in the city of 2.5 million people raced to contain a Covid rebound after the week-long National Day holiday in early October.
“To reduce the risk of transmission, some vegetable and fruit stores have been closed and put under quarantine,” said a Xining government official on Wednesday.
China’s coronavirus case load has remained small by global standards, but its ultra-strict containment measures against the highly transmissible Omicron variant have weighed heavily on the world’s second-largest economy and rattled financial markets.
Other large cities across China including Datong and Xi’an have implemented new curbs this week to rein in local outbreaks.
In Beijing, the Universal Resort theme park was shut on Wednesday after at least one visitor tested positive for coronavirus.
In Zhengzhou, there was an outbreak at a factory that employs about 300,000 people and is known as the largest producer of iPhones in the world.