ISLAMABAD: The corona mortality rate is on the rise in Pakistan as the national tally of total active COVID-19 cases was recorded as 57,799 on Monday with 3,752 more people testing positive for the deadly virus and 1,641 people recovering from the disease during the last 24 hours. 32 corona patients have died during the past 24 hours, 31 of whom were under treatment in the hospitals and one of them perished in their respective quarantines or homes, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Most of the deaths occurred in Sindh followed by Punjab. Out of the total 32 deaths occurred, 21 of them died while under treatment on ventilators. There were 2,677 COVID infected patients under treatment in critical condition with 104 of them admitted during the past 24 hours in various COVID dedicated healthcare facilities of the country.
The National COVID positivity ratio during the past 24 hours was recorded 7.51 percent. The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major cities including Islamabad 38 percent, Lahore 20 percent, Peshawar 17 percent and Multan 15 percent.
The maximum Oxygen beds (alternate oxygen providing facility other than ventilator administered as per medical requirement of COVID patient) was also occupied in four major cities of Gilgit 51 percent, Karachi 47 percent, Rawalpindi 24 percent and Muzaffarabad 30 percent.
Around 277 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country while no COVID affected person was on ventilator in Balochistan. Some 49,947 tests were conducted across the country on Sunday, including 18,122 in Sindh, 17,751 in Punjab, 8,311 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 2,383 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,727 in Balochistan, 740 in GB, and 913 in AJK.
Around 927,599 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients. Since the pandemic broke out, a total of 1,008,446 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment COVID-19 patients so far, including AJK 23,093, Balochistan 29,571, GB 7,747, ICT 85,780, KP 141,925, Punjab 353,238 and Sindh 367,092. About 23,048 deaths have been recorded in the country since the eruption of the contagion.
Around 5,833 people perished in Sindh, 19 of them died in the hospitals on Sunday. 10,944 people in Punjab died with five deaths occurring in the past 24 hours. Four individuals died in the hospitals and one out of the hospital.
As many as 4,420 people expired in KP, three of them died in hospitals on Sunday, 793 individuals died in ICT, one of them died in the hospitals in past 24 hours, 325 people died in Balochistan, three of them died in the hospitals on Sunday, 123 infected people perished in GB, one of them died in the hospitals in past 24 hours and 610 people in AJK succumbed to the deadly virus.
A total of 15,717,061 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 639 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities across the country. Some 3,045 corona patients were admitted to hospitals.
Meanwhile, the offices in Chief Minister House Sindh will remain closed, an official circular said Monday, as the coronavirus cases in the province witnessed a constant rise. The circular said 14 offices, including the media cell, protocol cell, and public complaint cell, would remain open with 50% attendance, while the remaining offices will remain closed, reported private news channel.
"The decision has been taken to keep the employees of the Chief Minister House safe during the fourth wave of coronavirus," the circular added. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a statement later in the day, said that seven more people had died due to coronavirus in the last 24 hours, lifting the death toll to 5,840.
The chief minister said 2,153 new cases emerged when 16,975 tests were conducted — taking the province's positivity ratio to 12.7%. He said that at present, 39,182 patients were under treatment, of them, 37,971 were in home isolation, 67 were at isolation centres, and 1,144 were at different hospitals.
CM Shah said the condition of 1,024 patients was critical, while 77 have been shifted to ventilators. Out of 2,153 new cases, 1,732 have been detected from Karachi, with the city's District South reporting 537 cases, District East 520, District Central 307, District West 124, District Malir 123, and District Korangi 121 cases.
Hyderabad registered 149 cases, Thatta 59, and Naushero Feroz 30. The chief minister urged people to follow the safety measures issued by the government to keep the virus at bay. Meanwhile, the second batch of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and a consignment of the CanSino vaccine reached Pakistan on Monday.
Three million doses of the Moderna vaccine have reached Islamabad, health ministry officials confirmed. The country has received the vaccine doses under the COVAX programme. The first batch of 2.5 million Moderna vaccine doses were delivered by the US earlier this month, reported a private news channel. This is the fifth batch of vaccines to be obtained under COVAX.
So far, Pakistan has received four consignments of various coronavirus vaccines under the COVAX programme apart from this recent one. They include shipments of the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccine.
COVAX has pledged free COVID-19 vaccines for 20% of Pakistan's population. Another 200,000 vaccine doses of the CanSino vaccine, too, reached Pakistan, according to the spokesperson of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The NDMA spokesperson said the vaccine doses have been handed over to the Ministry of Health.