ISLAMABAD – At least 148 people lost their lives due to the third wave of the novel coronavirus infection while 5,499 fresh cases have reported in the last 24 hours, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said Wednesday.

According to the latest figures from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the death toll has surged to 16,600 while the number of confirmed cases stands at 772,381.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 5,488 patients have recovered from the deadly virus while the total recoveries stand at 672,619. As of Wednesday, the total count of active cases was recorded at 83,162, and the positivity rate soared at 11.62 percent.

At least 274,196 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 276,535 in Punjab 108,462 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 70,984 in Islamabad, 21,127 in Balochistan, 15,873 in Azad Kashmir, and 5,204 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 7,664 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 4,559 in Sindh, 2,953 in KP, 649 in Islamabad, 446 in Azad Kashmir, 225 in Balochistan, and 104 in Gilgit Baltistan.

The health facilities across the country conducted 47,301 coronavirus detection tests, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 11,319,83 since the first case was reported.