At least 5,082 smart lockdowns in place across Pakistan, NCOC told

National Covid-19 positivity ratio at 8.53%, with Mirpur in AJK in lead with positivity ratio of 27.75%

ISLAMABAD:

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) was told on Monday that about 5,082 smart lockdowns were in place across Pakistan, adding that the country's virus positivity ratio had jumped to 8.53%.

During the centre's daily situational morning session, the meeting was informed that around 2.05 million people were currently under lockdown. In Punjab, 1,459 smart lockdowns were in place; whereas 206 were in place in Sindh; 182 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P); 3,205 in Islamabad and 30 in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

The meeting was informed that Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) had the highest positivity ratio, at 21.3 per cent, Sindh 14.04 per cent, K-P 5.57 per cent, Balochistan 11.95 per cent, Islamabad 6.62 per cent, Punjab 4.84 per cent. G-B has the lowest positivity ratio of 3.43 per cent.

Mirpur and Muzaffarabad in AJK had the highest positivity ratio of 27.75% and 23.44% respectively, followed by Hyderabad at 18.21%.

However, in Punjab, Lahore has a positivity ratio of 6.19% and Rawalpindi 4.83%. As for K-P, the positivity ratio stood at 18.09% in Peshawar. Quetta's positivity ratio stood at 9.09%. Islamabad recorded a positivity ratio of 6.62%, whereas a 5.68% positivity ratio was observed in Gilgit.

Moreover, at least 2,046 patients are in critical condition across the country. 467 patients in Punjab are in critical condition, 675 in Sindh, 356 in K-P, 16 in Balochistan, 323 in Islamabad, 23 in AJK and five in G-B.

A day earlier, the NCOC identified Rawalpindi, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi among the five major cities contributing about 70 per cent to the spread of the pandemic across the country.

The nation's nerve centre for monitoring the pandemic was briefed that the cities' positivity ratios were rising and they were reporting the most Covid-19 cases per day.