Pakistan reports highest single-day COVID infections

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus continues wreaking havoc in the country, as 4,974 new cases – the highest number during the third wave of the pandemic – were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the national tally to 672,931.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the country’s death toll climbed to 14,530 after 96 people succumbed to the deadly disease during the last 24 hours. Most of the deaths occurred in Punjab followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Meanwhile, 2,148 patients recovered from the deadly disease in a day taking total recoveries to 605,274. According to NCOC, the total active Covid-19 cases across the country were reported to be 53,127.
According to the statistics, 106 patients were declared critical, adding to the total number of patients suffering from sensitive health conditions up to 3,303.
The highest number of ventilators occupied in the country was found to be in Multan with 67 percent occupancy, followed by Lahore at 67 percent, Islamabad at 64 percent and Gujranwala at 60 percent.
The NCOC further reported that the highest number of oxygen bed occupancy in the country was in Swat at 100 percent followed by Gujranwala at 85 percent, Peshawar at 84 percent and Gujrat at 74 percent.
About 50,055 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours out of which 9,634 were conducted in Sindh, 22,624 in Punjab, 8,672 in KP, 7,564 in Islamabad, 367 in Balochistan, 312 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 882 tests were conducted in Azad Jammu &Kashmir.
Out of the total 14,530 reported deaths, there had been about 4,502 deaths in Sindh, 6,427 in Punjab, 2,363 in KP, 572 in Islamabad, 208 in Balochistan, 103 deaths in GB, and 355 in AJK.
The NCOC also reported that a total of 10,247,374 tests have been conducted since the outbreak of the virus. There are about 631 hospitals with Covid-19 facilities with more than 3,000 patients admitted across the country, it added.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan restricted their activities after multiple employees of the Chief Minister Houses in both Lahore and Peshawar tested positive for coronavirus.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has restricted his official engagements after six employees of the CM House KP tested positive for the Covid-19, confirmed the spokesperson. The routine official meetings will be held on the video link with strict adherence to the SOPs, the CM House KP spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 diagnosis test has been declared mandatory for all the staff of the CM House KP, while the visitors have been banned. – TLTP