Daily Times

The national tally of total active Covid-19 cases was recorded at 59,899 on Tuesday, with 3,262 more people testing positive for the deadly virus and 1,123people recovering from the disease.

Thirty-nine patients died on Tuesday, 33 of whom were under treatment in the hospitals and six 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 Punjab, followed by Sindh. Out of the total 39 deaths, 17 were under treatment on ventilators.There are 2,722 Covid infected patients under treatment in critical condition with 45 of them admitted during past 24 hours in various Covid dedicated healthcare facilities of the country.

The national Covid positivity ratio on Tuesday was recorded 6.6 percent.The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major cities including Islamabad

34%, Lahore 20%, Peshawar 18% and Multan 15%.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 44%, Karachi 48%, Rawalpindi 24% and Islamabad 25%.

Around 276 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country while no COVID affected person was on ventilator in Balochistan.Some 49,412 tests were conducted across the country on Monday, including 16,975 in Sindh, 18,432 in Punjab, 7,802 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 2,390 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 2,393 in Balochistan, 727 in GB, and 693 in AJK.

Around 928,722 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 1,011,708 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment COVID-19 patients so far, including AJK 23,203, Balochistan 29,618, GB 7,798, ICT 85,947, KP 142,139, Punjab 353,695 and Sindh 369,245.

About 23,087 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion. Around 5,840 people perished in Sindh, four of them died in the hospitals and three out of the hospitals on Monday.

Meanwhile, the NCOC on Tuesday endorsed steps being taken by the Sindh government to tackle Covid-19 disease spread and assured full cooperation at the federal level.The NCOC meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar.The forum was apprised of the deteriorating pandemic situation in Karachi, stress on the healthcare system, violations of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the urgent need for vaccination.

The forum was briefed that keeping in view the surge in disease spread, the NCOC and the Sindh government were closely monitoring the contagion situation, which was at the highest rate.

The forum was informed that COVID-19 disease prevalence ratio in Karachi has reached 26.32% whereas the number of patients under treatment in intensive care has reached 980.The forum was told that the measures taken by the NCOC included timely assistance to law enforcement agencies in implementing SOPs, improvement of existing medical facilities, timely supply of oxygen and continuous supply of vaccines.