Country reports ‘zero Covid-19 death for first time’: Umar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported zero Covid death for the first time in the past two years, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Head Asad Umar said on Wednesday.

The planning and development minister tweeted, “Alhamdulillah no Covid-related deaths reported in the country in the last 24 hours. This is the first time in two years that this has happened.”

According to the government’s database, as many as 443 fresh Covid cases were reported in the country when 34,476 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate was recorded at 1.28 percent.

The country’s tally of confirmed cases is 1,522,862 while the death toll is 30,333. The number of critical Covid-19 patients in various hospitals across the country has come down to 455.

Of late, the NCOC announced withdrawal of all Covid-related restrictions in Pakistan.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who is also head of the NCOC, an umbrella body leading Pakistan’s fight against the pandemic, made the announcement, a key step for the country to move to normalisation.

Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Till now 13,551 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 8,092 in Sindh, 6,307 in KP, 1,022 in Islamabad, 792 in Azad Kashmir, 378 in Balochistan and 191 in G-B.

Furthermore 574,157 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 504,577 in Punjab, 218,777 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 134,991 in Islamabad, 43,227 in Azad Kashmir, 35,460 in Balochistan and 11,673 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan has so far conducted 27,238,025 coronavirus tests and 34,476 in the last 24 hours. 1,484,496 patients have recovered in the country whereas 455 patients are in critical condition. The Covid-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 1.28 percent.

So far, 128,074,138 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 131,491 in last 24 hours. 101,881,176 citizens have been fully vaccinated while 501,747 received their second dose in last 24 hours.

The number of total administered doses has reached to 219,368,557 with 678,788 in the last 24 hours.