The number of active cases continued to increase and the tally reached 64,373 on Wednesday. Reuters/File
ISLAMABAD: While around 20 per cent decline was observed in the number of Covid-19 cases, over 100 deaths were reported for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, taking the overall tally to 15,000 mortalities.
Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, daughter of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, has been infected with coronavirus.
According to data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 4,004 cases and 102 deaths were reported in a single day. Out of the 102 deaths, 95 passed away in hospitals. As many as 4,529 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country, of which 443 were on ventilators.
Islamabad saw four deaths while nine patients succumbed to the virus in the garrison city.
The officials of the capital administration said that 564 new cases were reported on Wednesday compared to 659 on Tuesday.
During the last 24 hours, 6,722 tests were conducted in the capital, out of which tests of 302 men and 262 women came back positive. The positivity rate remained at 8.39pc compared to 8.79pc the previous day.
The death toll from Covid-19 in the capital has reached 588, after four more deaths were reported on Wednesday, the officials said.
Two of them were residents of G-11 and one each were from G-8 and Tarnol, the officials said.
Over 14 million COVID-19 cases in South Asia
South Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population, has seen a surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths in recent weeks. The total number cases now stand at more than 14 million, up by approximately eight percent since March 20 and over 195,000 deaths, a 3.5 percent increase in the same period.
The deadly consequences of this highly infectious disease for the region’s nearly two billion inhabitants are the result of the criminal policies of South Asia’s ruling elites who have placed the profit interests of big business over human life.
A health worker checks the body temperature of a voter outside a polling station during the third phase of assembly election in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Explosion at Wholesale Market Near Islamabad
Explosion at Wholesale Market Near Islamabad
At least 23 dead, over 30 others injured in early morning bombing.
At least 23 people were killed and over 30 others injured when a bomb detonated at a fruit market in Rawalpindi early Wednesday morning.
The blast took place at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in the busy morning period. Located at the edge of twin cities Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the market was not a known target and had not been threatened in the past.
Shortly after the blast, law enforcement authorities cordoned off the area and started a search operation for the people responsible. “It was an act of terrorism,” said a local police official. He said explosive material had been planted in a crate of fruit and may have been detonated remotely.
Hospitals in Pakistan on verge of saturation; COVID-19 cases reach 6,72,931
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Last Updated: Apr 01, 2021, 02:09 PM IST
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Synopsis
Pakistan reported 4,974 coronavirus cases and 98 deaths on Thursday during the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of daily infections reported since June 20, 2020, when 5,948 cases were reported.
Agencies
The number of cases in the country have reached 672,931 with over 14,530 deaths and 605,274 recoveries, the ministry of National Health Services (NHS) said on Thursday.
2,815,166.0
The COVID-19 situation in Pakistan is getting worse with hospitals in the country on the verge of saturation with more patients contracting the deadly virus, according to a media report on Thursday.