ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved sale of self-testing Covid-19 kits across the country.

According to the notification issued by the DRAP, over the counter testing kit has been approved, which will be available in medical stores across the country to relieve people from going to hospitals and Covid-19 testing centers.

The decision will rid the people of expensive coronavirus tests, which in private labs cost minimum Rs3,500 to a maximum Rs9,000, and in public hospitals people suffering from fever and with other Covid-19 symptoms required doctors’ prescription. The decision will also help in containing the spread of Covid-19 as a Covid-19 suspect can test himself without the involvement of other people.

Meanwhile, according to coronavirus data released by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) Wednesday, the country over the past 24 hours has recorded 29 Covid-19 related deaths and reported 6,047 coronavirus infections. The national Covid-19 positivity rate stands at 9.9 percent, marking the second straight day it has remained below 10 percent.

After the 29 more Covid-19 deaths and detection of fresh Covid-19 cases, the national tally of the coronavirus cases has surged to 1,436,413 and of fatalities has jumped to 29,330.

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Punjab with 13,185 coronavirus deaths remains the worst-hit province in terms of coronavirus deaths, followed by Sindh with 7,840 and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) with 6,009 deaths. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with 982 deaths, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with 758 deaths, Balochistan with 368 deaths, and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) with 188 deaths is on the bottom of the list. In the past 24 hours, Sindh reported 11 coronavirus deaths, Punjab nine deaths, KPK seven deaths, the ICT two deaths, while no coronavirus death was reported in the AJK, Balochistan, and GB. On account of coronavirus cases, Sindh with 544,722 covid-19 infections is on top, followed by Punjab with482,316cases, KPK with 196,328 cases, ICT with 129,004 cases, AJK with 38,805 cases, Balochistan with 34,501 cases, and GB with 10,737 cases, since the pandemic outbreak.

In the past 24 hours, Punjab with 1,895 reported highest coronavirus cases followed by Sindh, 1,552 cases, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,441 cases, ICT 575 cases, AJK 466 cases, Balochistan 84 cases, and Gilgit-Baltistan 34 cases.

Muzaffarabad remained the most Covid-19 hit city in the past 24 hours with 38.69 percent positivity ratio, followed by Gilgit with 34.28 percent, Peshawar with 25.28 percent, Karachi with 17.57 percent, Nowshera with 1`4.91 percent, Lahore 13.87 percent, Mirpur with 13.73 percent, Quetta with 13.02 percent, and Hyderabad with 11.20 percent. Pakistan has so far conducted 25,134,775 coronavirus tests and 61,190 in the last 24 hours.

In the past 24 hours, 9,590 coronavirus patients have recovered taking nationwide recoveries to 1,304,980, whereas, 1,559 patients are in critical condition and admitted in various Covid-19 related health facilities.

The NCOC has decided to speed up the process of vaccinating people to avoid further spread of coronavirus. According to the NCOC data, in the past 24 hours over 1.2 million people have been administered the vaccination jabs.

The number of total administered doses has reached 174,085,175 across the country. So far, 104,228,089 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 223,230 in the last 24 hours. At least 80,748,105 citizens have been fully vaccinated, while 322,467 received their second dose in the last 24 hours.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022