KARACHI: The resurging Covid-19 in Pakistan has killed another patient while infecting 136 more during the last 24 hours, showed the statistics released by the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Wednesday morning.

According to the NIH data, the death toll in the country went up to 30,646 after adding another fatality whereas the number of total infections now shot up to 1,578,599 after adding the fresh 136 cases. During the last 24 hours (Tuesday), 4,986 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 2.73%. The number of patients in critical care stood at 20.

There is a tantalising new clue in the hunt for the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. In new analysis posted online, an international team of researchers said their findings add to evidence that live animals traded at the market could have passed the coronavirus to humans, pointing to a natural origin for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research found swabs collected from stalls and equipment at the Huanan Market in Wuhan that tested positive for traces of the virus that causes COVID-19 also, in some cases, contained traces of DNA from animals known to be susceptible to infection. The swabs were collected by scientists affiliated with China’s Centres for Disease Control in early 2020, shortly after China closed the market, which was an early hotspot for COVID-19 infections.