Corona kills 56 including ex-judge Arshad Malik

ISLAMABAD: The total active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on Friday were recorded 51,507, as 3,262 more people tested positive during the last 24 hours.

Fifty-five corona patients, of whom 49 were under treatment in hospital and six out of hospital died on Thursday, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

No affected person was on ventilator in Balochistan, while 331 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in Pakistan, out of 1,751 allocated for COVID-19 patients.

Some 44,627 tests were conducted across the country on Thursday, including 13,339 in Sindh, 18,262 in Punjab, 5,455 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 5,805 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 540 in Balochistan, 403 in GB, and 823 in AJK.

Around 350,305 people have recovered so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 86 percent recovery ratio.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 410,072 cases have been detected so far, including AJK 7,151, Balochistan 17,333, GB 4,692, ICT 31,639, KP 48,264, Punjab 121,753 and Sindh 179,240.

About 8,260 deaths have been recorded countrywide since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,983 in Sindh, 3,115 in Punjab, 1,389 in KP, 332 in ICT, 169 in Balochistan, 98 in GB and 174 in AJK. A total of 5,672,166 tests have been conducted so far, while 617 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities.

Meanwhile, former accountability court judge Arshad Malik, who convicted ex-prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference, died of coronavirus on Friday.

The news of Arshad Malik’s death was confirmed by his brother-in-law Waheed Javed.

According to Waheed, Arshad Malik’s condition had been critical for the past two days and he was placed on the ventilator at an Islamabad-based hospital.

Arshad Malik is survived by two sons and two daughters. The deceased’s funeral prayers will be offered in Mandra.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) had sacked Arshad Malik after an inquiry into his leaked video.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has completed all prerequisites to submit a request for vaccine to GAVI, through the COVAX facility, a coalition for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines by all countries.

According to official sources, Pakistan and other GAVI eligible countries are likely to receive free of cost vaccines for a proportion of the population as well as additional quantities on special subsidized rates.

The Expanded Programme on Immunization under the guidance of the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination established a technical working group that worked round the clock to complete the consultation process having all stakeholders on board.

The proposal drafted therein was endorsed by the National Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) on Immunizations on 1st December and approved by the National Interagency Coordination Committee (NICC) Friday in a meeting chaired by Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services.

The participants of the meeting convened through video link included Director General Health, representative of the Ministry of Finance, National and Provincial EPI Managers, Representatives of WHO and UNICEF, GAVI as well as the other development partners and international donors.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Faisal Sultan highlighted the efforts of the government to curtail the impact of COVID-19 using all potential measures and available options.

“Ensuring availability of safe and effective vaccine to the most vulnerable population groups, the soonest possible, is yet another tool that the government is looking to benefit from, stated Dr Faisal Sultan.