Coronavirus claims highest number of lives since June-end

ISLAMABAD: Covid-19 claimed 105 more lives during the last 24 hours, the highest single-day tally since June 30, data issued by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) showed on Wednesday.
According to the NCOC, 2,731 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the national case tally to 445,977 with a positivity rate of 7.18 percent.
The fresh deaths raised the total number of people who have died across the country of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic to 9,010 with a mortality rate of 2.27 percent.
The highest number of deaths in the past 24 hours was observed in Sindh (58), followed by Punjab (30). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (12), Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir reported two deaths each and one person died in Balochistan.
There are 48,369 active coronavirus cases across the country – out of which 2,510 are critical with 316 patients on ventilators.
The highest ventilator occupancy has been observed in Multan (48 percent) and Islamabad (46 percent) while Peshawar reported the most number of oxygen beds occupied at 64 percent, followed by Rawalpindi at 42 percent and Multan at 41 percent.
According to the NCOC, Pakistan has one of the highest recovery rates in the world with over 87 percent of the patients surviving the virus. The country reported 2,265 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally of recovered patients to 388,598.
Furthermore, the NCOC reported that the current positivity ratio in the country was 7.2 percent, with the highest observed in Karachi at 18.76 percent, followed by Hyderabad at 16.56 percent and Peshawar at 15.99 percent.
Moreover, the national fatality rate is 2.02 per cent, against 2.22 per cent globally. The NCOC reported that of the 2.2 percent fatality rate in the country, 70 percent of males and 77.5 percent people over the age of 50 years succumbed to the virus; 73 percent have chronic comorbidities and 91 percent of the deceased remained hospitalised. In addition, 58 percent of the hospitalised patients remained on the ventilator before succumbing to the virus.
A total of 38,028 tests were conducted across the country during the last 24 hours, while 6,136,799 samples have been tested so far. It was recorded at 14.8 percent in Sindh, 11.3 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 5 percent in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 4.9 percent in Balochistan, 3.2 percent in Punjab and the lowest rate was 1.6 percent in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan on Wednesday urged the people to strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus.
In a video message, he pointed out that increasing cases of Covid-19 are increasing the burden on the health facilities. He said the people should wear masks, observe social distancing, hand wash with regular intervals and avoid big gatherings.
The special assistant said that the people should observe precaution whilst celebrating their events such as weddings or the Christmas. Faisal Sultan said that cooperation is required at the grassroots level to check the spread of the pandemic. – TLTP