Pakistan's death toll crosses 26,000, active Covid cases sees downward trend

Pakistan's coronavirus death toll crossed 26,000 on Friday, with the country witnessing a decrease in its active Covid-19 cases for the first time in several days.

As per the latest data by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 57 people succumbed to the novel virus during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 26,035 since the start of the pandemic. Currently, there are 5,606 critical coronavirus patients in the country.

Meanwhile, the country witnessed a downward trend in its active coronavirus after the number of cases stood at 90,076 during the last 24 hours. During the ongoing fourth wave, the active covid cases had reached 94,573 on September 1, inching near the highest ever value of 108,642 witnessed during the first wave of Covid-19 last year.

On the other hand, the national positivity ratio has also recorded a steady decrease, going down from 7.36% which was recorded on August 30 to 6.33% on September 2.

Active coronavirus cases on the rise

Out of 59,745 tests conducted during the last 24 hours, 3,787 came out positive, taking the national tally to 1,171,578. Since the start of the pandemic, Pakistan has carried out a total of 17,931,365 coronavirus tests.

In addition to this, 6,595 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,055,467, which is 90 percent of the total cases recorded in the country.

As Pakistan endeavours to curtail the spread of the novel virus, it is also rushing to inoculate its population, while 35% of its eligible population has so far received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Patient inflow at hospitals highest since start of pandemic: Asad Umar

Meanwhile, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar warned on Thursday that patient inflow at hospitals as well as the occupancy of critical care patients is the highest in Pakistan since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

In a tweet, the NCOC head said that like the rest of the world, the Delta variant has also had an impact on Pakistan, and is rapidly spreading. This is increasing the burden on hospitals, he added.