Pakistan COVID-19 cases continue to decline

Islamabad: Pakistan’s COVID-19 positivity rate continues to be below 5 per cent on the 10th consecutive day (since May 22). Single day cases of the coronavirus are also on the decline.

According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan’s tally of cases in the past 24 hours was reported at 1,843 while there were 80 deaths recorded in the same period.

Pakistan’s total cases have climbed to 924,667 and deaths to 20,930.

According to the NCOC, after 47,183 tests for COVID-19, the positivity remained at 3.90 per cent in the country.

The number of active cases has also declined in the country during the past 24 hours - from 57,633 to 55,052.

In the vaccination drive, 305,093 doses were administered in the country in the last day while the number of vaccines administered so far has reached 7.953 million.

Recovery rate surpassing infection ratio

These are good signs, said Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, Director General (DG) Health, stating the recovery rate is exceeding the infection rate which shows the virus is on the decline.

In the past 24 hours, 4,047 people recovered, with a total of 848,685 people having recovered so far in the country.

However, Dr Safdar said the challenge was not over and there is need to strictly comply with the health guidelines and the SOPs.

Pakistan receives 1 million vaccines

Pakistan received two tranches of 0.5 million vaccines each from China and according to the NCOC, two special PIA flights were operated to bring those vaccines.

Asad Umar thanks business community

Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiative Asad Umar, who is also head of the NCOC, in a tweet thanked the business leadership of the country for their cooperation and willingness to get vaccinated.

After holding a meeting with all major chambers in Pakistan, Asad Umar in a tweet thanked the business community for willingness to participate in the vaccination drive “to help the government accelerate the vaccination campaign and open up the economy while safeguarding health of the nation.”

Education Minister recovers

Pakistan’s Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood has recovered from COVID-19 after testing negative twice.

The minister who had tested positive a week earlier on May 25, in a tweet on Wednesday shared the news of recovery saying his quick recovery and mild symptoms during the quarantine period were undoubtedly because of vaccination.

“Clearly vaccines work and are the best defence against this horrible disease,” says the minister in his tweet.