Pakistan to resume anti-polio campaign next week

Pakistani authorities reported 1,579 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest number in more than a month, as health officials plan to resume a much-awaited nationwide anti-polio campaign next week.

Authorities conducted 22,559 tests in the past 24 hours. The additional cases bring to 263,500 the total number of confirmed infections, out of which 53,652 are active. Pakistan has reported 5,568 deaths.

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The improvement in infections coincides with Monday’s three-day anti-polio drive that aims to reach 800,000 children.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the three countries where polio — a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the polio virus — is still endemic.

The WHO on Friday posted that the back-to-back records come as many nations struggle with new waves of infections.

The World Health Organization is again posting a single-day record of new confirmed coronavirus cases. It announced 259,848 new cases on Saturday.

The WHO on Friday posted more than 237,000 confirmed cases around the world. The back-to-back records come as many nations struggle with new waves of infections after loosening lockdown restrictions.

Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University show more than 14 million cases worldwide since the start of the pandemic.