Pakistan's coronavirus death toll hits 25,000 mark

• With 80 more fatalities, Pakistan's coronavirus death tally crosses 25,000 mark.
• Country records more than 3,700 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours, NCOC stats show.
• Positivity rate stands at 7%.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan marked a grim milestone Monday morning as its coronavirus death toll reached 25,000.

The National Command and Operation Centre's website reported 80 deaths from the last 24 hours Monday morning, pushing the total to 25,003.

An additional 3,772 positive coronavirus cases were recorded by the NCOC over the last 24 hours after taking 53,881 tests.

The positivity rate now stands at 7%. 

Pakistan's total number of cases now stands at 1,127,584, with 89,919 active cases, 1,012,662 recovered and 25,003 deaths.

COVID-19 infections are decreasing in Pakistan, with 3,628 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 62% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on June 17.

Read more: Pakistan's daily COVID-19 case counts show signs of downward slope

Pakistan has administered at least 46,456,077 doses of COVID vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 10.7% of the country’s population.

During the last week reported, Pakistan averaged about 594,775 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 73 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.

Sindh extends schools closure

In view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the province, Sindh on Sunday decided to keep schools closed for longer.

Earlier, the provincial government had announced that schools in Sindh would remain closed till August 30.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a statement, had said that teachers, staff and parents should be vaccinated before schools reopen.

“It has been decided to reopen universities, colleges and schools after 10 days. They would be opened on August 30,” he had said.

Sindh Education Minister Sardar Shah had said schools would reopen with only 50% of students in attendance, while the educational institutions that have a full vaccination rate will be allowed a 100% student strength.