NCOC reports lowest single-day Covid death toll of this year

Forum says positivity ratio in all districts fall below 5%

ISLAMABAD:

The single-day death toll from the coronavirus pandemic plummeted to the lowest level this year, as the national Covid positivity ratio fell further to 1.35%, according to the official data issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday.

For the first time this year, the NCOC reported a single-digit death toll on Monday. On Tuesday, it plummeted further from 9 on Monday to 6 on Tuesday. According to the NCOC, the nationwide death toll rose to 28,392.

The NCOC, which serves as the nerve centre of the government unified effort against the global pandemic, said in its daily update that the national tally of active Covid-19 cases rose fractionally to 24,196, as 572 more people tested positive for the virus while 310 people recovered from the disease.

The forum said that 1,573 patients were admitted to various Covid dedicated healthcare facilities of the country. Among them, it added 1,028 patients were under treatment in critical condition, including 224 on ventilators. The national positivity ratio during past 24 hours was 1.35%.

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As of Tuesday, the national caseload of the disease since it first emerged in February 2020 rose to 1,269,806. Among them, the forum added, 1,217,218 people had recovered from the disease, depicting a more than 90% recovery ratio of the affected patients.

The NCOC, meanwhile, appreciated all the federating units for enhanced vaccination drive under the Obligatory Regime launched from October 15. The forum said that the provinces as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government effectively managed the vaccination campaign.

The forum met here with National Coordinator Maj-Gen Zafar Iqbal in the chair. The meeting took stock of epidemic curve chart data, vaccination targets and progress on the obligatory regime. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan was also present.

The forum was briefed that all districts across the country had the positivity ratio of less than 5%. The Forum directed the federating units to ensure strict compliance of denial of services to non-vaccinated individuals in all sectors and ensure vaccination on spot through mobile teams.