Pakistan is presently experiencing the fourth wave of coronavirus which is said to be deadlier and more contagious than previous three COVID waves.

According to National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), around 2,928 cases of coronavirus were reported while 68 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 27,072.

The total number of cases has reached 1,218,749.

As many as 1,125,952 patients have recovered from the disease with 4,960 critical cases.

Punjab              

The number of patients swelled to 419,423 in the province with 12,345 causalities.

Sindh

The number of infections has surged to 448,658 in the province, while the death toll has reached 7,224.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The confirmed cases have surged to 170,391 in the province with 5,354 casualties.

Balochistan

There are 32,707 confirmed cases while 344 patients have died from the infection so far.

AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan

There are 33,628 coronavirus cases in the AJK while the death toll has reached 728. On the other hand, there are 10,222 cases in GB with 182 coronavirus deaths.

Islamabad

There are 103,720 cases in the capital city while 895 people have lost their lives.

The technical advisor on marine fisheries at World Wild Fund (WWF), Muhammad Moazzam Khan said that the new island appeared in west off the coast of Sonmiani near Kund Malir.

“Such phenomena occurs due to geographical changes within the ocean depths,” he said adding that these kind of small islands emerge, remain in place for a while and then diminish back into the waters.

It is pertinent mention here that such Islands had earlier emerged at the same location in 2000 and 2010.

The first known emergence, during November 1945, was concurrent with an earthquake of magnitude 8.0.

The 2nd and 3rd emergences were in March 1999 and November 2010 respectively.

In 2013, an island emerged off Gwadar coast after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Pakistan. However, the island disappeared after some time.

Landsat images of March 1999 and November 2010 emergences indicate appearance of round-shaped island of 4.4 and 5.2 hectare area, followed by erosion and disappearance. The island was composed of mud breccias and circular vents spewing mud slurry and methane gas.

The huge blaze erupted Wednesday night—claiming lives of ten. Fire services and rescue teams rushed to the scene and fought to douse the flames for a couple of hours.

It’s not yet clear how the large blaze started or how many patients were inside.

While the cause has yet to be established, the country's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev posted on social media that the fire had followed an on-site explosion.

Огромна трагедија се случи во тетовскиот КОВИД-19 центар. Експлозија предизвикала пожар. Пожарот е изгаснат, но згаснаа и многу животи.

Изразувам најдлабоко сочувство до семејствата и блиските на починатите и посакувам брзо закрепнување на повредените.https://t.co/55sVhZEyXO

— Зоран Заев (@Zoran_Zaev) September 8, 2021

Footage shared on social media showed a building in flames and a thick cloud of black smoke billowing into the air near a main road in the city of Tetovo.

JUST IN - At least 15 people killed and dozens injured after a fire broke at a Covid hospital in North Macedoniapic.twitter.com/FC9lbBoDJJ

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 8, 2021

The facility was reportedly built last year to help care for COVID-19 patients.

Tetovo deputy fire Chief, Saso Trajcevski said, "The fire was huge because the hospital is modular, there was plastic".

The fire occurred as the former Yugoslav republic celebrated the 30th anniversary of its independence, with festivities in the capital Skopje, including a military parade.

However, investigators have gone to the scene to determine the cause of Yesterday’s fire.

Meanwhile, North Macedonia has been battling a surge in COVID-19 cases recently with 701 new cases and 24 deaths in the past 24 hours.

It has recorded more than 6,100 fatalities in total since the start of the COVID outbreak.

Macedonia government had to impose stricter measures, in a bid to prevent the spread of virus.

North Macedonia has a population of around 2 million and its healthcare services are run down as hospitals are overwhelmed in some areas, particularly where vaccination rates are low.

Covid-19 hospitals in other countries have been hit by explosions followed by fires. In Iraq, dozens of people were killed in fires that occurred after oxygen cylinders exploded in April and July.