Daily Times

Amid an intensifying third wave of the pandemic, Pakistan’s coronavirus death toll surged past the 15,000 mark, while the number of Covid-19 cases crossed the 700,000 mark on Wednesday.

The national tally on Wednesday of total active cases was recorded at 64,373 as 4,004 more people tested positive for the deadly virus and 2,631 people recovered from the disease. One hundred and two patients died on Wednesday, 95 of whom were under treatment in hospitals and seven 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 Punjab, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Out of the total 102 deaths, 32 of the deceased had died on ventilators during their treatment.

The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 70 percent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 58 percent, Gujranwala 60 percent and Lahore 69 percent. The maximum oxygen beds were also occupied in four major areas of Swat 59 percent, Gujranwala 85 percent, Peshawar 82 percent and Gujrat 75 percent.

Some 41,699 tests were conducted across the country on Tuesday, including 6,778 in Sindh, 17,290 in Punjab, 8,019 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 6,722 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,301 in Balochistan, 411 in GB, and 1,178 in AJK. Around 620,789 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.

Former prime minister Benzair Bhutto’s daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari announced on Wednesday that she was isolating as she had tested positive for coronavirus. “I tested positive for Covid-19 on April 2 – isolating and recovering,” tweeted Bakhtawar, who had recently got married.

Bakhtawar reminded people to remain “cautious” and urged them to “call people out if their masks don’t cover their nose”. She also asked people to get vaccinated and help those less fortunate to get vaccinated too.

The NCOC has decided closure of the Covid-19 vaccination centres across the country once a week on Wednesday. The NCOC approved weekly holiday of coronavirus vaccination centres and issued directives to the provincial chief and health secretaries regarding its closure for a day in a week.

Sources that the vaccination centres will be closed on Friday in order to give rest to the administrative and medical staff. On the weekly holiday, the vaccination centres will complete their tasks including vaccine transfer and other related matters.

Earlier on April 5, the government had decided to administer Covid-19 jabs to elderly people aged 80 and above at their homes after the NCOC approved the recommendation. The decision came after NCOC huddle had given go-ahead to the recommendations put forward by the huddle and has thus directed all the provinces to begin vaccination drive at home for the elderly who cannot wait at designated centres. The local health authorities will be responsible to facilitate the home vaccine drive, sources confirmed, as the people will reach out to local officials to get themselves registered.