ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported fewer than 1,000 cases of Covid-19 for the second consecutive day on Saturday as 955 more people were infected by the deadly virus and 29 died.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre’s (NCOC) data, there were 43,352 active cases as of Oct 9 and 2,744 patients were admitted to various hospitals across the country.

While 360 ventilators were in use across the country, Multan was the only city in Pakistan in which over 50 per cent vents were in use. Similarly, less than 35pc oxygen beds were being used in cities across the country.

A total of 1,257,188 cases have so far been detected since the beginning of the pandemic out of which 1,185,749 patients have recovered and 28,087 failed to survive.

The virus was detected in China in December 2019 and then started spreading in other countries.

Pakistan had closed its borders and taken a number of steps to stop the transmission due to which the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the last week of February 2020.

On March 13 of the same year, the first meeting of the National Security Committee, consisting of top civil and military leadership, was held to discuss the crisis which was later declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Four waves of the disease have so far been reported in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2021