COVID-19: Pakistan records 3306 infections, 40 deaths in 24 hours

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recorded fresh 3,306 COVID-19 cases and 40 deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours, ARY News reported on Thursday.

In the past 24 hours, 40 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 7,843. 1,418 patients have recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours and 1,968 patients are in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 386,198, whereas, the active cases stood at 43,963.

A total of 45,999 tests were conducted across the country during this period. 334,392 people have recovered from the deadly disease while 5,343,702 samples have been tested thus far.

Read: Karachi University postpones all examinations

Earlier on Tuesday, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had given the approval to the COVID-19 rapid testing kit, sources told ARY News.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of DRAP, Dr Asim Rauf, had confirmed that a foreign pharmaceutical company has registered the coronavirus rapid testing kit which will provide the result of a nasal swab sample within 20 minutes.

Dr Rauf said the testing kits manufactured in Germany will be imported by a foreign pharmaceutical company and the initial testing fees will be charged up to Rs2,000. Only trained experts will be able to use the rapid testing kits and the results will be matched with the health condition and clinical history of patients, he added.

The DRAP CEO said that rapid testing kits will not be used for donor screening and termed the registration of the kits as a major success for speedy diagnosis of the virus. He said that timely diagnosis of the virus will enable the medical experts to treat the infected patients in the country.