ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Saturday recorded highest single-day Covid-19 deaths with 157 fatalities reported in the past 24-hour taking over the previous record deaths on June 20, 2020, when 153 coronavirus patients died.

According to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), the country recorded 5,908 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the country's Covid-19 tally to 790,016.

After the latest 157 coronavirus deaths, the national tally has reached 16,999.

Punjab and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa remained (KPK) most effected areas as Punjab reported 98 Covid-19 deaths and KPK reported 37 deaths.

Punjab with 285,542 Covid-19 cases is on top followed by Sindh with 276,670 cases, KPK with 112,140 cases, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with 72,613 cases, Balochistan with 21,477 cases Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with 16,327 and Gilgit-Baltistan with 5,247 cases, since the pandemic outbreak which include deaths, recovered and under treatment Covid-19 patients so far.

Out of the total 16,999 reported Covid-19 deaths across Pakistan, Punjab with 7,897 deaths is on top, followed by Sindh with 4,587 deaths 11 of which died in the past 24 hours, KPK with 3,066 deaths of which 37 died in the past 24 hours, ICT with 657 deaths of which five died in the past 24 hours, Azad Jammu and Kashmir with 458 deaths of which three were reported in the past 24 hours, Balochistan with 230 of which three died in the past 24 hours, and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) with 104 deaths.

The country is witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases as it grapples with the third wave of the pandemic, fueled by the UK and Indian strain of the virus, according to NCOC Chairman Asad Umar.

Umar, who is also Federal Minister for Planning and Development has announced that from April 25, walk-in vaccination for those who are between the ages of 60 and 64 will also be started across the country at designated centres.

All those falling in this age group, who are already registered with the 1166 service, can visit their vaccination centre for the vaccination.

Earlier, the government had opened the walk-in facility for those above the age of 65.

Umar added that the vaccination centres will also be open on Sundays.

Around 1.3 million people in Pakistan have either received their first or both vaccine doses.

Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, 4,198 coronavirus patients have recovered from the fatal disease taking the nationwide recoveries to 686,488.

The total active Covid-19 cases across the country are reported to be 86,529.

The highest ventilator occupancy rate in the country is in Gujranwala at 88 per cent, followed by Multan 85 per cent occupancy, Lahore at 83 per cent, and Mardan 60 per cent.

There are around 633 hospitals with Covid-19 facilities across Pakistan with more than 5,561 patients admitted, the NCOC added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021