644 new coronavirus cases push Pakistan's tally to 315,260

ISLAMABAD: The novel coronavirus claimed four more lives during the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from the disease to 6,517.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 29,565 samples were tested for Covid-19 during this period, out of which 644 were declared positive. The number of infections across the country has reached 315,260 with the addition of the new cases.

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Thus far, 299,836 patients have recuperated from the disease. There are 8,907 active Covid-19 cases in the country. More than 3.6 million tests have been conducted while 513 of the patients under treatment at various hospitals are said to be in critical condition.

So far, Sindh has reported 138,050 cases of the coronavirus, Punjab 99,812, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 37,973, Balochistan 15,371, Islamabad 16,766, Gilgit Baltistan 3,828, and Azad Jammu and Kahsmir 2,828.

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US sees record increase

Nine U.S. states have reported record increases in COVID-19 cases over the last seven days, mostly in the upper Midwest and West where chilly weather is forcing more activities indoors.

On Saturday alone, four states – Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin – saw record increases in new cases and nationally nearly 49,000 new infections were reported, the highest for a Saturday in seven weeks, according to a Reuters analysis. Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming also set new records for cases last week.