Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday recorded 3,795 coronavirus cases, the highest spike in daily new infections since July 2, raising the nationwide case count to 420,294, the health ministry said.

The country also reported 37 more deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total number of fatalities to 8,398. A total of 2,539 virus patients are in critical condition, said the Ministry of National Health Services.

The 3,795-new cases has also raised the country-wide coronavirus positivity rate to 9.71 per cent. It was also the highest daily case count since July 2 when the country reported 4,087 cases, the Dawn newspaper said.

Monday was also the fifth straight day that more than 3,000 new cases have been reported.

After carrying out 39,076 tests in the last 24 hour, the national tally of cases reached 420,294, the health ministry said.

At least 356,542 people have recovered in the country, and the number of active patients is 55,354.

Sindh has reported 184,486 cases, Punjab 123,762, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 49,676, Islamabad 32,816, Balochistan 17,466, Pakistan-administered  Kashmir 7,356 and Gilgit-Baltistan 4,732 cases.

As Pakistan struggled to combat the second wave, it got an offer from Russia to provide its COVID-19 vaccine, Foreign Officer Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri.

He said the proposal has been forwarded to the health ministry, which is looking at the vaccine’s efficacy, regulations and results.

Chaudhri also added that the government was in contact with multiple sources to ensure “timely acquisition of COVID-19 vaccine”.

Pakistan has already allocated an initial amount of USD 150 million to procure the vaccine. Officials said that it would be available by April.

Press Trust of India