ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday reported 3,097 new Covid-19 cases and 46 more deaths, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said. The data shows that after almost a month, the country reported more than 3,000 coronavirus infections as on Dec 18, 2020 Pakistan reported 3,179 Covid-19 cases. The national positivity rate has risen to 7.4 percent from 5.3 percent a day earlier. During the past 24 hours, Sindh reported 1,769 cases followed by the Punjab with 767 cases, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 359 cases, Balochistan 21, Islamabad 162, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 19 cases.

Meanwhile, Gilgit-Baltistan did not report any new case. After the 46 new deaths, the national tally has reached 10,818 since the Covid-19 outbreak in Feb 2020, while the total number of coronavirus cases has reached 511,821 of which 467,223 have recovered. Active Covid-19 cases in Pakistan are 33,869.

Sindh with 230,718 cases is on top followed by the Punjab with 147,292 cases, the KP with 62,377 cases, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with 39,624 cases, Balochistan with 18,488 cases, the AJK 8,540 cases, and G-B with 4,882 cases, since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Punjab has reported most deaths due to Covid-19 since the outbreak of coronavirus that is 4,348, followed by Sindh with 3,744 deaths, KP 1,752 deaths, the ICT 449 deaths, the AJK 236 deaths, Balochistan 188 deaths, and G-B with 101 deaths.

According to the NCOC data, out of 46 fatalities reported in past 24 hours, 40 were under treatment in hospitals and six died at their homes or quarantines. Punjab reported most deaths during the past 24 hours, wherein, 25 coronavirus patients died; followed by Sindh 14 deaths, and KPK four deaths.

According to the NCOC, some 2,410 coronavirus patients are under critical care across the country, since the start of 2021 the country has reported over 29,743, while 642 people have died. It added that out of the total 46 deaths during the last 24 hours, 28 patients died on ventilators.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021