Corona’s pace picks up as 82 more die

ISLAMABAD: The national tally of active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Tuesday reached 40,261 with 1,704 more people testing positive during the last 24 hours.

A total of 1,852 people have recovered during the last twenty-four hours, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

Eighty-two patients, of whom 71 were under treatment in hospital and 11 in their respective homes or quarantines, died on Monday. During the last 24 hours, most of deaths occurred in Punjab followed by Sindh. Out of the total 82 deaths, 41 patients died on the ventilator.

No affected person was on ventilator in Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan (GB), while 322 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in Pakistan. The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas, including Multan 52 percent, ICT 39 percent, Peshawar 27 percent and Lahore 31 percent.

Oxygen beds were also occupied in four major areas including Rawalpindi 41 percent, Abbottabad 37 percent, Peshawar 57 percent and Multan 39 percent. Some 34,594 tests were conducted across the country on Monday, including 10,234 in Sindh, 14,062 in Punjab, 4,707 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 4,663 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 255 in Balochistan, 402 in GB, and 301 in AJK.

Around 410,937 people have recovered so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 86 percent recovery ratio.

Since the pandemic’s outbreak, a total of 460,672 cases have been detected including AJK 8,015, Balochistan 17,950, GB 4,831, ICT 36,416, KP 55,450, Punjab 132,526 and Sindh 205,484.

Around 9,474 deaths have been recorded countrywide since the eruption of the contagion, including 3,352 in Sindh, 3,688 in Punjab, 1,553 in KP, 393 in ICT, 179 in Balochistan, 99 in GB and 210 in AJK.

A total of 6,370,704 tests have been conducted so far, while 615 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities.

Meanwhile, the pandemic has claimed 50 more lives in the last 24 hours, while 593 new cases were reported across Punjab.

According to the record, shared by a spokesperson for the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD), the number of coronavirus cases in the province reached 132,526 while the death toll reached 3,688 altogether.

The P&SHD confirmed that 293 new cases were reported in Lahore, 5 in Kasur, one in Sheikhupura, five in Nankana Sahib, 73 in Rawalpindi, 12 in Jhelum, one in Chakwal, six in Gujranwala, two in Mandi Bahauddin, one in Hafizabad, five in Sialkot, three in Gujrat, 53 in Faisalabad, one in Toba Tek Singh, two in Chiniot, 13 in Jhang, 22 in Sargodha, five in Mianwali, one in Khushab, one in Bhakkar, 31 in Multan, two in Lodhran, four in Vehari, eight in Khanewal, 11 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 18 in Bahawalpur, five in Bahawalnagar, two in Muzaffargarh, one in Rahimyar Khan, two in Rajanpur and four new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Sahiwal district during the last 24 hours.

The Punjab Health Department conducted 2,313,949 tests for COVID-19 while 120,110 confirmed cases recovered altogether in the province.

Meanwhile, the highest positivity ratio was observed in Abbottabad, which was 40.32 percent followed by Hyderabad 22.12 percent, Karachi 12.54 percent, Balochistan 10.67 percent, Gilgit Baltistan (GB) 1 percent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 3.41 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 5.67 percent, Punjab 4.22 percent and Sindh 6.29 percent, according to NCOC.