ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in the coronavirus fatality count, with 665 deaths reported in one week, the health ministry said on Sunday.
It added that 5,050 new cases and 114 deaths had been recorded in the past 24 hours – the highest single-day tally amid the third wave of the pandemic – taking the national caseload to 721,018 infections and 15,443 fatalities since the outbreak in February last year.
“Nearly 630 hospitals with COVID-19 facilities had 4,920 patients admitted across the country,” the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the federal body dealing with the pandemic, said on Sunday.
Authorities had introduced “smart lockdowns” in COVID-19 hotspots last month to curb the pandemic’s third wave.
Some of the measures included restrictions on public gatherings and transport and stricter enforcement of health guidelines.
On Thursday, Planning Minister Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, said that the government was planning to begin COVID-19 vaccine registrations for all citizens after the Eid Al-Fitr holiday mid-May.
Starting February, Pakistan began vaccinating frontline health care workers and citizens over the age of 60 free of charge using over 1 million Sinopharm doses donated by China. It has since purchased more doses of the Sinopharm and Cansino Biologics COVID-19 vaccines from China. Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has also been privately imported by pharmaceutical companies.
