On Tuesday Pakistan recorded more than 200 Covid deaths in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic, taking the country’s overall death toll from the virus to 17,530, according to the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC).
As a “double mutant” Covid variant saw India surpass 200,000 deaths yesterday, Pakistani officials have said “healthcare facilities are at risk of being overwhelmed” with “ventilators and oxygen in short supply”, Karachi-based newspaper Dawn reports.
‘Ticking timebomb’
Pakistan shares a 2,000-mile border with India, which is currently facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, making up almost half of the world’s new Covid infections over the past seven days.