44,198 tests conducted: Country reports 630 fresh Covid-19 positive cases: NCOC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Tuesday, detected 630 more Covid-19 positive cases by performing 44,198 coronavirus tests nationwide with a positivity ratio of 1.42 percent, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said.

According to the NCOC, in the past 24 hours, out of 44,198 nationwide coronavirus tests, 19,485 were carried out in the Punjab, 10,632 in Sindh, 8,879 in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), 4,122 in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 344 in Balochistan, 482 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and 254 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

Following the emergence of 630 new Covid-19 cases, the national tally of active cases jumped to 11,565, while two more coronavirus patients died in the past 24 hours taking the national tally of Covid-19 deaths to 28,945 since the pandemic outbreak.

The country also recorded 187 Covid-19 recoveries in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide recoveries to 1,257,355, which is almost 97 percent of the total infections. The NCOC said that both the deaths recorded in the past 24 hours happened in hospitals. Around 68 ventilators were occupied across the country, while no Covid-affected person was on ventilator in GB, Balochistan, and the AJK.

At present, Sargodha with 13 percent ventilator utilisation is top among the major cities with the maximum ventilators occupation followed by Peshawar 12 percent, Lahore eight percent, and Islamabad seven percent. The maximum oxygen beds (alternate oxygen providing facility other than ventilator administered as per medical requirement of Covid patient) were also occupied in four major areas, including Islamabad 13 percent, Gujrat 11 percent, Peshawar eight percent, and Bahawalpur eight percent.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 1,297,865 cases have been detected including deaths, recovered and under treatment Covid-19 patients. Sindh 483,165 with Covid-19 infections is top among the federating units, followed by the Punjab with 445,630 infections, the KPK 181,498,the ICT 108,823,the AJK 34,672, Balochistan 33,648, and GB 10,429.

Out of 28,945 deaths recorded in the country since the pandemic outbreak, Punjab 13,075 deaths is on top followed by Sindh with 7,673 deaths, KPK with 5,933 deaths, ICT with 967 deaths, AJK with 746 deaths, Balochistan with 365 deaths, and GB with 186 deaths.

Since the start of the pandemic on February 19, 2020, Pakistan has carried out a total of 23,558,972 coronavirus tests. The government has dedicated around 640 hospitals equipped with Covid facilities for the treatment of the Covid-19 patients.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022