Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 1,292,728 on Friday after 322 new cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall 480,077 cases were confirmed in Sindh, 444,438 in Punjab, 181,121 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 33,614 in Balochistan, 108,392 in Islamabad, 10,429 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 34,654 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, 47,811 tests were conducted in last 24 hours while positivity ratio remained 0.67%.
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 28,898 with 4 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 1,254,301 after another 197 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, the United States (US) on Thursday authorized Merck & Co's antiviral pill for COVID-19 for certain high-risk adult patients, a day after giving a broader go-ahead to a similar but more effective treatment from Pfizer Inc.
The US Food and Drug Administration said Merck's drug could be used when other authorized treatments are not accessible or clinically appropriate.
The drug, molnupiravir, was developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30% in a clinical trial of high-risk individuals early in the course of the illness.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 278.551 million and death toll tops 5,401,376.
