Coronavirus third wave claims 77 more lives in Pakistan with 1,118 new cases reported

Coronavirus third wave has claimed 77 more lives in Pakistan with 1,118 new cases reported on Wednesday.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday, the overall death toll has reached 21,453. The total confirmed cases so far are 936,131.

During the last 24 hours, 43,900 tests were conducted while the number of total tests has now reached 13,663,666.

However, the country’s coronavirus positivity rate during the last 24 hours was recorded as 2.54 percent.

This is the second day in a row that the positivity rate has remained below 3%.

Sindh reported the highest number of cases with 575 infections, followed by Punjab with 226 cases.

Region-wise breakdown of coronavirus cases and deaths is as follows:

• Sindh: 575 cases, 20 deaths
• Punjab: 226 cases, 48 deaths
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 147 cases, 6 deaths
• Balochistan: 68 cases, 1 death
• Islamabad: 65 cases
• Azad Jammu and Kashmir: 28 cases, 2 deaths
• Gilgit-Baltistan: 9 cases

On the other hand, Pakistan achieved the milestone of administering 10,000,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to people on Wednesday,

Addressing a brief press conference to mark the achievement, Federal Minister for Planning and NCOC Chief Asad Umar said the government’s decisions to curb the virus were proving “effective” during the third wave of the pandemic.

“The more quickly we get ourselves vaccinated, the faster we will be able to rid ourselves of this menace,” he said.

Asad Umar has urged people to get themselves vaccinated so that businesses could reopen and life could return to its normal state in Pakistan.

In the NCOC meeting held on Wednesday, vaccination has been made mandatory for all public and private sector employees.