Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 508,824 on Wednesday after 2,123 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall, 228,949 cases were confirmed in Sindh, 146,525 in Punjab, 62,018 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18,467 in Balochistan, 39,462 in Islamabad, 4,882 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 8,521 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 10,772 with 55 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 464,950 after another 2,973 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan says Pakistan is hopeful to receive the first batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine early next month.
In an Interview with a foreign news paper, he said the government intends to begin the process of vaccination within the first quarter of this year.
Dr Faisal Sultan said the government is looking at multiple options and is in touch with all companies whose vaccines have been approved internationally.
The SAPM said the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has started registering frontline health care workers who will be vaccinated in the first phase.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 90 million and death toll tops 1.9 million.
