ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus claimed 118 more lives during the last twenty-four hours, raising the death tally to 17,117 nationwide as the country continues to grapple with the third wave of the infection.
As per official data shared by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday, 55,128 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours from which 5,611 tests returned positive. The positivity rate of the coronavirus in the country stands at 10.17 percent.
The number of active cases now stands at 88,698 with nationwide recoveries rising to 689,812. The country’s tally for confirmed cases has now reached 795,627.
According to the NCOC, among the day’s fatalities, 40 were of patients on ventilator support, whereas 110 of these patients were hospitalised. Most deaths occurred in Punjab, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Highest ventilator occupancy was recorded in Gujranwala with 88 per cent, 85 per cent in Multan, 84 per cent in Lahore and 66 per cent in Mardan.
Moreover, the NCOC reported that there was no Covid-19 patient on ventilator support in Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan and AJK. As many as 531 vents are currently occupied across Pakistan.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, a total of 795,627 cases have so far been detected in Pakistan, including 16,463 in AJK, 21,618 in Balochistan, 5,253 in GB, 72,981 in Islamabad, 113,121 in KP, 288,598 in Punjab and 277,593 in Sindh.
Among the 17,117 deaths, 4,593 occurred in Sindh, 7,964 in Punjab, 3,103 in KP, 660 in Islamabad, 232 in Balochistan, 104 in GB, and 461 in AJK.
There are at least 633 hospitals with Covid-19 facilities in Pakistan with 5,791 patients currently admitted.
Meanwhile, with 3,056 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Punjab in 24 hours, the province’s tally for confirmed cases reached 288,598 on Saturday. The province also recorded another 67 deaths, taking the death toll to 7,964. A total of 233,655 patients have recovered in the province so far.
Meanwhile, another doctor died of Covid-19 in KP on Sunday, taking the total number of deaths of doctors due to the novel coronavirus to 64.
Assistant Professor Muhammad Ali, who was serving at the psychiatric department of the Naseer Teaching Hospital in Peshawar, had fallen prey to Covid a few days ago. He was receiving treatment at a private hospital of the provincial capital, and breathed his last on Saturday night.
According to the provincial doctors’ association, so far, 97 members of the medical staff died due to the virus, including 64 doctors, 15 paramedics, six nurses, and 13 class-IV workers.
Meanwhile, the NCOC on Sunday revealed that 10 children have succumbed to the coronavirus since March 15.
As per an NCOC report one more child falling in the 1-10 years age bracket, passed away from coronavirus on Saturday.
The latest casualty is alarming as this makes it the 10th child, aged between 1-10 years, to pass away from the virus since March 15. In the past one week, three children aged between 1-10 years have succumbed to the virus, said the NCOC.
The NCOC also revealed that since the pandemic first started spreading in the country last year, 48 children have died of the coronavirus.
