ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Active coronavirus cases were recorded at 27,188 on Friday with 3,449 more people testing positive for the deadly virus and 813 people recovering from the disease during the past 24 hours.
The positivity rate was recorded at 8.04 per cent during the past one day.
40 Covid-19 patients died during past the 24 hours, 38 of whom were under treatment in hospitals and two in their respective homes under quarantine, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
During the last 24 hours, most of the deaths had occurred in the Punjab followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Out of the total 40 deaths, 17 of the deceased had died on ventilators during their treatment.
Maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas — Multan 41 per cent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 51 per cent, Peshawar 26 per cent and Lahore 39 per cent.
The maximum oxygen beds (alternate oxygen providing facility other than ventilator administered as per medical requirement of a coronavirus patient) was also occupied in four major areas – Gujrat 75 per cent, Peshawar 53 per cent, ICT 40 per cent and Rawalpindi 32 per cent.
Around 276 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country while no coronavirus patient was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan.
Some 42,845 tests were conducted across the country on Thursday, including 10,527 in Sindh, 15,818 in Punjab, 7,443 in KP, 7,291 in ICT, 453 in Balochistan, 289 in GB, and 1,024 in AJK.
Around 578,314 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan, making it a significant count with over 90 per cent recovery ratio of the affected patients.
Since the outbreak, a total of 619,259 cases have been detected that also include those who passed away or recovered those currently under treatment for coronavirus. So far, AJK has reported 11,377 cases, Balochistan 19,290, GB 4,967, ICT 50,096, KP 77,972, Punjab 193,054 and Sindh 262,503.
About 13,757 deaths were recorded in country since the first case of the highly contagious virus emerged last year. Around 4,473 people died in Sindh with four deaths occurring in the hospital during the past 24 hours.
5,919 people had died in Punjab with 23 deaths occurring in the past 24 hours. 21 of them were in the hospital and two out of the hospital. 2,196 people died in KP with eight of them passing away in the hospital. 536 died in ICT, including five deaths in hospitals, 202 in Balochistan, 103 in GB and 328 in AJK succumbed to the deadly virus.
A total of 9,691,087 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far, while 631 hospitals are equipped with Covid-19 facilities. Some 2,601 coronavirus patients were admitted in hospitals across the country.
UHS CONTINUES CLINICAL TRIAL OF ANOTHER COVID-19 VACCINE:
Meanwhile, the University of Health Sciences (UHS) continued the clinical trials of another Chinese vaccine, ZF2001.
The researchers at the UHS completed the screening of 250 volunteers. The spokesperson said that the Covid-19 vaccine is in trial phases and currently unavailable in market.
The vaccine has been administered to 70 volunteers and its approval for clinical trials was granted by National Bioethics Committee (NBC) and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). The clinical trials of the ZF2001 vaccines are also being carried out in Indonesia and Uzbekistan.
ZF2001 vaccine is developed by Chinese Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co Ltd.
They are aiming to recruit 10,000 volunteers for the clinical trials of the new Covid-19 vaccines in Pakistan prior to the commencement of the holy month of Ramzan, said the spokesperson, adding that all protocols are being maintained during the vaccine trials.
UHS also appealed to citizens to avoid suspicion and to take part in its clinical trial.
Earlier in October last year, DRAP had issued a three-year licence to the UHS Lahore to conduct Covid-19 vaccine trails.
The UHS had been given licence by DRAP so that it could be used as a site for the phase-III clinical trials of a Chinese vaccine. The permission included a trial of the vaccine on humans for three years at the UHS.
