ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported 2,482 new cases of Covid-19 and 50 deaths over the past 24 hours.

According to the latest Covid-19 figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), here on Thursday, countrywide 2,482 more people were tested positive for the deadly virus, and 2,122 people recovered taking the Covid-19 cases tally to 495,075 of which 34,049 are active, and 450,515 recovered.

According to the NCOC, 45 people out of 50 people who died due to Covid-19 were under treatment in hospitals, and five died at homes or quarantines on Wednesday taking the national tally to 10,511 since, the pandemic’s outbreak in early 2020.

It added that out of the total 50 deaths during the last 24 hours, 27 patients died on ventilators.

No Covid-affected person was on ventilator in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), while 315 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in Pakistan.

The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 45 percent, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 42 percent, Bahawalpur 41 percent, and Lahore 37 percent.

The oxygen beds (oxygen providing facility other than ventilator as per patient’s medical requirement) were also occupied in four major areas as in the ICT 30 percent, Karachi 34 percent, Peshawar 54 percent, and Multan 33 percent.

Some 40,509 tests were conducted across the country, including 13,699 in Sindh, 15,562 in Punjab, 4,798 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 5,167 in the Islamabad Capital Territory ICT, 599 in Balochistan, 413 in G-B, and 271 in the AJK.

The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 45 percent, the ICT 42 percent, Bahawalpur 41 percent, and Lahore 37 percent.

According to official data, Sindh is on top with 221,734 Covid-19 cases, followed by Punjab with 142,835 cases, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) with 60,222 cases, the ICT with 38,687 cases, Balochistan 18,300 cases, the AJK with 8,416 cases, and G-B 4,874 cases. Punjab is on top on account of coronavirus deaths with 4,203, followed by Sindh with 3,653 deaths, KPK with 1,702 deaths, the ICT with 434 deaths, the AJK 232 deaths, and G-B with 101 deaths.

With the start of the second wave of the Covid-19, which has become more deadly as compared with 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 by 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 18.

The students are advised to study at home or get weekly homework till the end of extended winter vacations, which started from December 25, 2020, and will end on January 18th.

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