ISLAMABAD: The Covid-19 pandemic claimed 146 more lives across Pakistan over the last 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 17,957.According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, 4,696 new infections were detected when 48,740 samples were tested during this period. The positivity rate of new cases was recorded at 9.63%, the NCOC said.The countrywide tally of confirmed cases climbed to 825,519 with the addition of 4,696 new cases. Thus far, 717,009 patients have recuperated from the disease.The number of Covid-19 patients in critical care across the country has climbed to 5,490.Thus far, Punjab has reported 303,182, Sindh 283,560, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 118,413, Islamabad 754,98, Balochistan 22,369, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 17,187 and Gilgit Baltistan 5,310.Earlier, NCOC chief Asad Umar said the number of critical Covid-19 patients on oxygen reached 5,360 on Thursday. “This is 57% more than the peak last June,” he said in series of tweets.“Alhamdulillah [we] have so far managed to cope with this huge increase because of proactively building capacity of the entire system from oxygen production to beds,” he added.
