Corona ferocity grows as 52 more die

ISLAMABAD: The national tally of active COVID-19 cases was Friday recorded 17,117 with 1,579 more people testing positive and 1,527 patients recovering during 24 hours.

Fifty-two corona patients died on Thursday of whom 49 were under treatment in hospitals and three in their respective quarantines and homes, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Most of deaths occurred in the Punjab followed by Sindh. Out of the total 52, 25 patients died on the ventilator.

The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 21 percent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 35 percent, Peshawar 21 percent and Lahore 36 percent. Around 225 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country, while no affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan.

Some 37,998 tests were conducted across the country on Thursday, including 9,689 in Sindh, 15,092 in Punjab, 6,759 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 4,803 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 789 in Balochistan, 263 in GB, and 603 in AJK. Around 556,769 people have recovered so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 587,014 cases have been detected including AJK 10,409, Balochistan 19,097, GB 4,957, ICT 45,078, KP 73,258, Punjab 175,051 and Sindh 259,164. Around 13,128 deaths have been recorded countrywide since the eruption of the contagion.

Around 4,405 perished in Sindh, 5,510 in Punjab, 2,099 in KP, 504 in ICT, 200 in Balochistan, 102 in GB and 308 in AJK.

A total of 9,135,393 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 631 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities. Around 1,991 patients are admitted in hospitals across the country.

Meanwhile, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) Friday invited the private sector pharmaceutical companies for negotiating Covid-19 vaccine import to ensure long-term immunisation against the coronavirus contagion outbreak.

The NCOC meeting took a detailed stock epidemic curve chart data, progress on vaccination drive and update on emergency use authorisation (EUA) for age group above 60.

The forum was briefed that the next tranche of vaccine doses had been dispatched to Sindh and Balochistan by air whereas the rest of the provinces were provided the doses by road.

The forum was informed that negotiations with the Sinopharm vaccine manufacturers were being finalized for the next half a million doses.

The forum was told that the cold chain equipment required for developing the storage facility for Pfizer vaccine had reached Karachi and would be set up subsequently.