Zero Covid-19 deaths reported for first time in two years

ISLAMABAD: For the first time in two years since the COVID-19 pandemic started in Pakistan, the country reported zero deaths during the 24 hours period, the National Command and Operation Centre’s (NCOC) data showed Wednesday morning.

According to the NCOC statistics, the country witnessed a slight rise in coronavirus cases, with 1.28% positivity rate compared to Tuesday when the ratio stood at 0.82%.

However, the country has been maintaining a positivity rate below 2% since March 9 - when a 2.07% positivity ratio was recorded.

As per Wednesday’s NCOC data, 34,476 tests were conducted, out of which 443 new cases were diagnosed. The total count of confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic has reached 1,522,862.

According to the NCOC, 455 patients are still being treated in ICU.

NCOC chief and Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar had already announced that the government was scrapping all the COVID-19 related restrictions across Pakistan.

“The pandemic has not ended yet but undergoing the ending phase,” Umar had said while addressing a press briefing at NCOC, flanked by SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, meanwhile, congratulated his team for effectively handling the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that led to the country’s lowest unemployment rate in South Asia.

“I want to congratulate my government for the way we handled the COVID-19 pandemic, better than all the countries in South Asia,” he said in a tweet.

The tweet came in response to the survey by South Asia Index based on the World Bank data that showed that Pakistan outranked other South Asian countries with lowest unemployment rates.

The survey showed the unemployed population of Pakistan at the rate of 4.3 percent compared with India (8 pc), Maldives (6.3 pc), Bangladesh (5.4 pc), Sri Lanka (5.9 pc), Bhutan (5 pc), and Nepal (4.7 pc).