ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday reported zero COVID-19 deaths since the emergence of coronavirus in the South Asian country two years ago, the country's planning minister and a monitor said.
Pakistan, which is currently fighting an omicron-driven fifth wave of infections, reported its first case of coronavirus in March 2020.
In the last 24 hours, health authorities conducted 34,476 tests, of which 443 turned out to be positive, the country's pandemic response monitor, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), said.
The coronavirus positivity rate currently stands at 1.28 percent.
"Alhamdulillah no COVID-related deaths reported in the country in the last 24 hours," said Planning Minister Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC.
"This is the first time in two years that this has happened."
Pakistan has fared better as compared to other South Asian countries during the pandemic, with the lowest unemployment rate in the region in 2020-22, according to the South Asia Index.
India has 8 percent unemployment rate, Maldives 6.3 percent, Bangladesh 5.4 percent, Bhutan 5.0 percent and Sri Lanka 5.9 percent. Unemployment stood at the lowest 4.3 percent in Pakistan, followed by 4.7 percent in Nepal.
Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated his government for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I want to congratulate my government for the way we handled the COVID pandemic — better than all the countries in South Asia,” he said on Twitter.
