Pakistan recorded 23 more deaths due to the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the national toll of fatalities to 11,318.

According to the national COVID-`9 dashboard, 488,903 recoveries have been reported so far after 2,414 more patients went back home after defeating the virus.

As many as 36,607 tests were conducted in a single day bringing the total number of tests conducted to 7,680,242.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has soared to 534,041 with addition 1,629 cases.

So far, Sindh has reported a total of 241,200 infections, Punjab 154,017, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 65,532, Balochistan 18,750, Islamabad 40,815, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 8,825, and Gilgit Baltistan 4,902.

The NCOC had said that the positivity ratio of Sindh was 10.23pc, AJK 5.97pc, KP 5.25pc, Balochistan 3.52pc, Punjab 2.54pc, Islamabad 1.18pc and GB 0.56pc. Area-wise highest positivity ratio was observed in Hyderabad with 11.57pc, followed by Peshawar 11.29pc and Karachi 10.68pc.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has granted approval for emergency use of the Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine Gam-COVID-Vac, commonly known as Sputnik V.

The hopes the first batch of the vaccine would reach Pakistan by the end of January. The registration board of DRAGP in its Friday meeting authorized emergency use of the Russia-made COVID-19 vaccine Gam-COVID-Vac, a DRAP official said.

The previous week, DRAP had approved Oxford–AstraZeneca and China’s Sinopharm vaccines for emergency use. However, the country is yet to receive any vaccine.

“A local pharmaceutical firm, AGP Limited, had applied for registration, marketing and distribution of the vaccine in Pakistan,” the DRAP official said.

The health authority said the approval was granted on the recommendation of a committee of experts comprising top infectious diseases experts and pathologists.