Pakistan reports 61 new deaths, 2351 fresh cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours

ISLAMABAD – Another 61 people have died across Pakistan during the last twenty-four hours, according to the government figures.

According to latest statistics, as many as 2351 new cases of Covid-19 were reported while 575,867 patients have so far recovered from the disease.

Yesterday, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) revealed that the number of active Covid-19 cases had increased by about 50 per cent in three weeks.

The national positivity ratio has been recorded at 5.7 per cent.

The number of cases started increasing after the NCOC had on Feb 24 decided to relax most restrictions on commercial activities, schools, offices and other workplaces, allowing them to function at full strength.

However, with no let-up in Covid-19 cases, the NCOC re-imposed the restrictions on March 10.

The NCOC also announced a two-week spring vacation in educational institutions in 10 cities, whereas Balochistan and Sindh were suggested to limit attendance to 50pc.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched the vaccination campaign on Feb 2 and the frontline healthcare workers were inoculated in the first phase.

In the first week of March, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan allowed the use of Sinopharm — the only vaccine available in Pakistan — for the people over 60 years of age and the inoculation process started on March 10.

However, in view of the high mortality rate among senior citizens, the NCOC had on March 15 allowed the people aged 70 and above, who had registered themselves on help-line 1166, to walk into any vaccination centre to get inoculated against Covid-19.