Pakistan's active Covid-19 cases jump to 89,673, highest since May

Pakistan's total number of active coronavirus cases jumped to 89,673 during the last 24 hours, the highest reported in three months, as the country reported another 3,239 cases at a positivity ratio of 6.23%, a steady decrease in the past few weeks.

During the first wave, the active number of cases rose to as high as 108,642 on July 1, 2020. During the second wave, the active number of Covid-19 cases was recorded at 49,780 on December 1, 2020.

This year on April 30, during the third wave, Pakistan recorded 90,553 active cases. However, the country has seen an increase in its active number of cases from 30,000 to 80,000 during the current fourth wave, shooting from 31,606 on June 29 to 89,673 on August 19.

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On the other hand, the number of daily cases has recorded a steady decrease, going down from around 5,000 a day to a little over 3,000.

During the last 24 hours, 51,982 tests were conducted across the country, with the cumulative number since the start of the pandemic reaching 17.115 million. Out of the tests conducted in the past 24 hours, 3,239 came out positive, taking Pakistan's overall coronavirus cases tally to 1,116,886.

The national positivity ratio was reported at 6.23% during the last 24 hours, a decrease from 7.86% which was recorded on August 18. Overall, there are 4,893 critical Covid-19 cases in Pakistan.

The country also reported 3,027 more recoveries in 24 hours, taking the tally to 1,002,430. However, the novel virus also claimed 70 more lives. So far, 24,783 people have lost their lives to the disease since the pandemic.

In order to curb the spread of the virus, the government is trying to vaccinate as many citizens as possible. Pakistan has administered at least 44,736,977 doses of Covid-19 vaccines so far, as per a report by Reuters. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that is enough to have vaccinated about 10.3% of Pakistan's population.

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This vaccine rollout data is reported by the number of doses of coronavirus vaccines administered, and not the number of people who have been vaccinated.

Because most vaccines require two doses and many countries have different schedules to deliver the second dose, it cannot be calculated how many people have ultimately received both doses. However, it can be safely said that at least 10% of the entire population has been vaccinated.

During the last week, Pakistan averaged about 716,137 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 61 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population, the report added.

Pakistan has introduced various curbs and penalties in order to incentivise vaccinations. This ranges from the threat of blocking cellphone coverage to provincial governments suspending salaries. Domestic air travel already requires vaccination certificates.