ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported 52 coronavirus deaths, and 2,118 new Covid-19 cases during the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said.
According to the latest Covid-19 data released here on Wednesday by the NCOC of the 52 coronavirus patients who have died, 45 were under treatment in hospital, and seven died at their homes or quarantines on Tuesday.
The NCOC said that in the past 24 hours, 4,033 people recovered from the coronavirus, which took the national Covid-19 recoveries tally to 448,393, making it a significant count with over 86 percent recovery ratio.
Countrywide 38,917 tests were conducted of which 2,118 came back positive showing a positivity ratio of 5.4 percent.
Authorities in Sindh conducted 12,457 tests, 15,997 in Punjab, 4,521 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), 4,870 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 466 in Balochistan, 357 in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), and 249 in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
At least 24 people of the 52 who died due to coronavirus were on ventilators during the past 24 hours, the maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 45 percent, the ICT 47 percent, Bahawalpur 41 percent, and Lahore 37 percent.
No Covid-affected person was on ventilator in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), while 313 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in Pakistan.
Following 52 new Covid-19 deaths, the national death tally has reached 10,461, and with 2,118 new cases the national coronavirus tally has reached 492,594, since the pandemic outbreak in early 2020 in the country.
According to official data, Sindh is on top with 220,501 Covid-19 cases, followed by Punjab with 142,058 cases, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) with 59,955 cases, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with 38,531 cases, Balochistan 18,280 cases, the AJK with 8,396 cases, and G-B 4,873 cases.
Punjab is on top with 4,184 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic of which 36 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, followed by Sindh with 3,634 deaths among 11 of them died on Tuesday, the KPK with 1,695 deaths, wherein, 12 of them died in hospital on Tuesday, the ICT with 432 deaths among four of them died in hospital on Tuesday, the AJK with 229 deaths, Balochistan with 186 deaths, and G-B with 101 deaths.
With the start of the second wave of the Covid-19, which has become deadlier as compared to the first wave, the federal government on December 9, 2020 imposed various restrictions across the country to contain the virus.
The government has also warned, if the public ignored the Covid-19 SOPs, it would bring more restriction with shutting down more sectors.
The government repeatedly has stated that there was a rapid increase in infections during the second wave as the public was less serious than it was during the first wave.
The federal government has made face masks mandatory in public spaces, limited large public gatherings to 300, banned indoor weddings, closed shrines, cinemas, and theatres, and instructed public and private offices to adopt a work-from-home policy, and a 50 percent occupancy.
The federal government has also announced that educational institutes will remain closed till January 18th.
The students are advised to study at home or get weekly homework till the end of extended winter vacations which stared from December 25, 2020 and will end on January 18.
The schools will start reopening from January 18 phase wise.
All examinations have been postponed except for admission and recruitment tests.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021