ISLAMAABAD: Pakistan recorded more than five thousand cases for the second day in a row while over a hundred people lost their lives from the novel coronavirus as the third wave shows no signing of getting under control.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), there were 5,312 new coronavirus cases and 105 deaths from the disease in the past day. Yesterday Pakistan reported 5,329 new coronavirus cases which was the highest daily count recorded this year.
The total number of cases recorded so far reached 710,829 cases while the death toll has reached 15,229. The total number of active cases has increased to 69,811 while the positivity rate stood at 10.7 percent. The number of critical patients who remain in in hospitals has also increased to 4,116.
There were 54,498 coronavirus detection tests conducted in the past day, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 10.639 million since the first case was reported. Overall 625,789 people have recovered from the virus including 2,390 in past day.
Punjab continues to remains the worst affected area with more than half of the active cases. There have been 243,295 cases recorded so far and 6,851 deaths while there are 36,503 active cases in the province. Islamabad has recorded 64,173 cases and 597 deaths while there are 12,854 active cases in the region.
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 96,128 cases and 2,553 deaths while there are 11,618 active cases. Sindh has recorded 267,970 cases and 4,521 deaths.
NCOC chief Asad Umar has said that COVID-19 vaccination registration will be open to all citizens after Eid. He said vaccinating the masses has always been a priority and the government began phased-wise approach in the beginning and are now expanding it.
He said that vaccination of people aged 50 will begin in a few days. The minister said Pakistan was trying to Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine on a government level. He said that 1.1 million people had been inoculated via the government’s vaccination programme, whereas 14,000 people received a jab through the private sector.
He said that China is the primary source of the vaccines Pakistan has been receiving. He said the CanSino vaccine will also be available after Eid and the government will inoculate 125,000 people.
He said registrations are currently open for all those aged 50 and above, besides healthcare workers. The government has also decided to offer Islamabad and Punjab citizens over 80 to get vaccinated at home.
