Islamabad, Dec 8 (IANS): Pakistan's coronavirus death toll rose to 8,487 by 89 new fatalities in the last 24 hours for the first time in five months as the country struggles to contain the second wave of the pandemic, according to data issued by the National Command and Operations on Tuesday.

Both Sindh and Punjab recorded 41 new deaths while six died of coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), reports Geo News.

Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan reported no deaths in the past 24 hours.

With 2,885 new infections, the number of coronavirus cases reported across the country reached 423,179.

At least 2,486 patients are under critical care with 336 on ventilators.

The case positivity rate has shot up to 8.58 per cent with the highest coronavirus prevalence observed in Karachi as 21.80 per cent of the PCR tests conducted in the past 24 hours, followed by 18.31 per cent in Mirpur and 16 per cent in Muzaffarabad.

Overall, Sindh has the highest case positivity rate of 13.87 per cent.

The country reported 13,932 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, 12,214 of which were reported in Punjab, raising the total recoveries to 370,474.