The national tally of total active Covid-19 cases in Pakistan on Wednesday reached 37,905 with 2,142 more people testing positive for the deadly virus and 6,267 people recovering from coronavirus.
Eighty-four coronavirus patients, 73 of whom were under treatment in hospital and 11 in their respective homes or quarantines died on Tuesday, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). During the last 24 hours, most of the deaths occurred in Punjab followed by the Sindh. It added that during last 24 hours that out of the total 84 deaths, 47 patients died on ventilators. No Covid-affected person is on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) while 319 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in Pakistan.
The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 55 percent, ICT 33 percent, Peshawar 25 percent and Lahore 34 percent. The oxygen beds were also occupied in four major areas as in Rawalpindi 41 percent, Abbottabad 35 percent, Peshawar60 percent and Multan 39 percent.
Some 35,621 tests were conducted across the country, including 10,914 in Sindh, 15,214 in Punjab, 4,480 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 3,770 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 380 in Balochistan, 396 in GB, and 467 in AJK. Around 415,352 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 86 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.
Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 462,814 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment COVID-19 patients so far, including AJK 8,040, Balochistan 17,980, GB 4,832, ICT 36,483, KP 55,811, Punjab 133,179 and Sindh 206,489.
About 9,557 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion, including 3,379 Sindh among 21 of them died in hospital and Six out of hospital on Tuesday, 3,732 in Punjab 39 of them died in hospital and Five out of hospital on Tuesday, 1,563 in KP 10 of them died in hospital on Tuesday, 394 in ICT Two of them died in hospital on Tuesday, 179 in Balochistan, 99 in GB and 211 in AJK where One of them died in hospital on Tuesday.
A total of 6,406,281 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 615 hospitals are equipped with Covid facilities. Some 2,931 corona patients were admitted in hospitals across the country.
The government is in close liaison with leading Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, also those from China and regularly reviewing development data of phase-III trials. This was informed to National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Wednesday by the official concerned who further apprised that these steps will lead to a final decision about early availability of the vaccine for Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the government had already completed all prerequisites to submit the vaccine request to GAVI, through the COVAX facility, a coalition for equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines by all countries.
According to official of Ministry of National Health Services, Pakistan and other GAVI eligible countries are likely to receive free of cost vaccines for a proportion of the population as well as additional quantities on special subsidized rates.
Releasing the application template on November 17, GAVI had fixed December 7 as the deadline to receive application.
The Expanded Program on Immunization under the guidance of the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination established a technical working group that worked round the clock to complete the consultation process having all stakeholders on board.
The proposal drafted therein was endorsed by the National Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) on Immunizations on 1st December and approved by the National Interagency Coordination Committee (NICC) chaired by Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services. He said that the government is committed to ensuring availability of safe and effective vaccine to the most vulnerable population groups, the soonest possible, is yet another tool that the government is looking to benefit from it. He said that the government will ensure protecting the healthcare workforce at the forefront of the response against Covid-19.
