Pakistan recorded 4,323 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 692,231, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday.
According to the NCOC, the country’s death toll climbed to 14,821 after 43 people succumbed to the deadly disease during the last 24 hours. The NCOC said that total active Covid-19 cases across the country are 61,450.
During the period of a day, the total count of active cases was recorded at 61,450 and the positivity rate stood at 9.96 per cent. The health facilities across the country conducted 43,362 coronavirus detection tests, taking the total number of Covid-19 tests to 10,446,697 since the first case was reported. Out of 43,362 Covid-19 tests, 8,797 were conducted in Sindh, 17,994 in Punjab, 8,687 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 5,654 in Islamabad, 885 in Balochistan, 355 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 990 tests were conducted in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Out of the total 14,821 reported deaths, there had been about 4,509 deaths in Sindh, 6587 in Punjab, 2,457 in KP, 583 in Islamabad, 211 in Balochistan, 103 in GB and 371 deaths have been reported from AJK.
The NCOC also reported that a total of 10,446,697 tests had been conducted since the outbreak of the virus. There are about 631 hospitals with Covid-19 facilities with more than 4,000 patients admitted across the country, it added.
According to the statistics, 19 patients were declared critical, adding to the total number of patients suffering from sensitive health conditions up to 3,587. Meanwhile, 2,902 patients recovered from the deadly disease in a day taking total recoveries to 615,960.
The highest number of ventilators occupied in the country was found to be in Multan with 70.4 per cent occupancy, followed by Lahore at 67.2 per cent, Gujranwala at 60 per cent and Islamabad at 57.7 per cent. The NCOC further reported that the highest number of oxygen bed occupancy in the country was in Swat at 100 per cent followed by Gujranwala at 85 per cent, Peshawar at 84 per cent and Gujrat at 74 per cent.
Keeping in view the recent spike in Covid-19 cases amid the third wave of the disease, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) suspended inter-provincial transport for two days a week (Saturday and Sunday). The NCOC had restricted inter-provincial public transport only on weekends. However, cargo trucks, containers, medical and emergency services will be exempted from the restrictions.
The new restrictions will come into force from April 10 and will continue to remain effective till 25th of April. NCOC further said that Pakistan Railways will continue to operate passenger trains seven days a week with 70 per cent occupancy.
ANOTHER DOCTOR DIES OF COVID:
Another doctor in KP succumbed to coronavirus on Monday, raising the death toll of doctors to have died in the province from the virus to 51.
According to the Provincial Doctors Association, Dr Muhammad Taufiq contracted coronavirus while performing his duties at the Police Hospital and was self-isolating at home. He breathed his last on Monday.
The association further revealed that so far, the deadly virus has claimed the lives of at least 51 doctors in the province, while seven doctors have died since February last.
Following his death, doctors in the province called upon the government to take emergency measures to ensure that the lives of these frontline workers were protected.
Earlier, Dr Anila Naseer died at the MH Hospital several days after being placed on a ventilator. She was a specialised gynaecologist and worked for several years in a government hospital until 2007, when she left her government job to start her own clinic.
