ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recorded 87 new Covid-19 cases, with no fatalities reported, as per statistics released by the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Saturday morning.
The country’s death toll remained at 30,649, while the total number of infections has now increased to 1,579,704 with the addition of the fresh cases.
In the last 24 hours, Pakistan conducted 6,011 tests, up from 4,639 the previous day, with a positivity ratio of 1.45 percent. The number of patients in critical care stood at 25.
Meanwhile, Chinese researchers have released a significant amount of new genetic data in response to pressure from the scientific community to provide clues on the origin of the pandemic.
This data could offer valuable insights into the virus’s origin. Scientists believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may have jumped to humans from raccoon dogs or other mammals illegally sold at a market in Wuhan.
The researchers had initially released a study that did not mention evidence of animals, but they have now updated their preprint to acknowledge the genetic evidence of animals at the Wuhan market.
The updated study suggests that it is unclear whether infected animals or humans, or even contaminated food, introduced the virus into the market where the first cluster of Covid-19 cases surfaced.
