(Karachi) At least 23 deaths and 901 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the last 24 hours across the country, which brings the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic to 954,743, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reported on Sunday.

The death toll has reached 22,211 while the country's Covid positivity rate is 2.02 percent. The total number of critically ill patients is 1,941.

Meanwhile, 44,544 tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours. At least 1,347 people recovered from the deadly disease while 39,881 people have been fully vaccinated during the said period.

Punjab recorded the maximum of 345,796 cases, followed by 335,555 in Sindh, 137,628 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 82,565 in Islamabad, and 27,003 in Balochistan. Azad and Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan reported 20,212 and 5,984 Covid cases respectively.

Earlier, Planning Minister Asad Umar said that 2.3 million Covid vaccinations were carried out from June 12 to 18, which is the highest in any week so far.

Pakistan reports highest number of COVID-19 deaths in one day

He said that more than 2.3 million vaccinations were done at a rate of 332,877 per day which is the highest so far in any week.

In wake of rising Covid cases, the NCOC issued new guidelines to curb the spread of the virus. The forum decided to implement broader lockdowns and restrict the movement of people. It banned all indoor and outdoor activities, including social, cultural, political, sports, and other miscellaneous events.

Similarly, the NCOC decided to initiate a vaccination campaign on a massive scale under the "whole of the nation approach" in collaboration with various public and private partners.

The NCOC had set a target to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of this year.

In June, Pakistan faced an extreme shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, compelling provinces to suspend the vaccination process.

Punjab reports 1,073 new cases of Covid-19, 45 deaths

Sindh and Punjab closed down many vaccination centers as supply halted. However, officials said that an agreement has been reached between Pakistan and Pfizer-BioNTech for the procurement of 13 million doses of Covid-19 mRNA vaccine for the country and first shipment is expected to reach Pakistan by the end of July 2021.

Similarly, Pakistan is in the final stages of procuring 10 million doses of Russian Sputnik V vaccine and its first shipment is likely to reach by the end of the current month or first week of July.