Pakistan records 1,656 new Covid-19 cases, 35 fatalities in a day

Pakistan recorded another 35 fatalities due to Covid-19 during the last 24 hours and as many as 1,656 new cases, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) reported on Sunday.

The country's Covid positivity ratio stood at 3.26% while the tally for confirmed cases has now reached 1,249,858. The death toll stands at 27,866.

The positive cases were recorded against a total of around 50,779 tests conducted in a single day.

So far, Sindh has recorded 459,392 infections, Punjab, 432,809, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 174,490, Islamabad, 105,664, Balochistan, 32,956, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan 34,216 and 10,331 cases, respectively.

Earlier, the NCOC decided to ease additional restrictions in eight cities across Pakistan from October 1.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said the decision was taken after achieving a target to vaccinate 40 percent population above 15 years of age in the said cities.

NCOC eases restrictions in 8 cities after achieving Covid vaccination target

He pointed out the cities that achieved the targeted vaccination rate are Gilgit, Skardu, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Quetta, and Peshawar. He said the government had decided to vaccinate people in areas where coronavirus positivity ratios were higher.

Umar also announced that the government will start vaccinating citizens aged 12 and above.

"Special drive will be run for vaccination at schools to make it easier for children to be vaccinated," he tweeted. Later, the NCOC said that the Pfizer vaccine will be administered to those who are below 18 years of age.

Coronavirus cases rise by 30% in a week after government eases restrictions

People aged below 18, will have to provide their B-form number for registration in the National Immunisation Management System.

The country intends to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of this year and has also committed to spending $1.1 billion on procuring the Covid-19 vaccine to inoculate its people. Pakistan has been inoculating the citizens with CanSino, Sinopharm, SinoVac, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.