Single-day Covid tally hits three-month high

The provincial government says despite the surge, the authorities will not resort to any lockdown for now

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:

Fuelled by the Omicron variant, the 5th wave of coronavirus pandemic continued to show an upward trajectory, as the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reported 1,293 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, the highest tally in three months.

According to the data, the highest number of cases were reported from Sindh, where the authorities announced new measures to contain the spread of the virus. According to the provincial statistics, the number of Omicron cases in Karachi rose to 307 on Friday from 268 a day earlier.

It was second consecutive day of more than 1,000 daily cases. On October 6, the NCOC had reported over 1,400 cases and 1,083 cases on October 14. In the daily update on Friday, the NCOC said that the national positivity ratio during the last 24 hours was 2.52% up from 2.32% a day ago.

The highest number of cases, 759, was reported in Sindh, followed by 376 in Punjab. The Sindh Health Department said that the positivity rate in Karachi which was 4.74% on December 31, 2021, rose to 10.25% on January 6.

A spokesperson for the Sindh chief minister said in a statement that the total number of Omicron infection had risen to 307 in the province. The provincial government had said that despite the surge, the authorities would not resort to any lockdown for now, rather vaccination drive would be intensified.

In such a move, the Sindh government made coronavirus vaccination mandatory for students aged 12 years and above.

According to a notification issued by the Sindh Education Department on Friday, the decision had been taken to protect students from the virus and continue the educational process.