Covid claims 9 more lives as Omicron positivity hits 20%

Hospitals providing booster shots as per NCOC guidelines

KARACHI:

As the Omicron detection rate hit 20 per cent in Karachi and nine fatalities - the highest single day death toll from the pandemic - were recorded in the province, vaccination centres became active again.

Coronavirus vaccine booster dose is being administered in different hospitals in Karachi including Dow University of Health Sciences Ojha Campus, Expo Center, Sindh Government Children Hospital, Khaliq Dina Hall in accordance with NCOC guidelines. At present in Karachi, the first dose of covid-19 vaccine has been administered to 6,582,179, the second dose to 4,294,038 and the booster dose to 17,970 people.

Director Karachi Health Services Dr Akram Sultan told The Express Tribune that the NCOC has issued guidelines on booster doses stating that the booster doses will be administered to three age groups from December 1. The first phase will involve healthcare workers and people over 50 years of age.

The NCOC issued the guidelines in December2021 stating that more booster vaccines would be administered six months after the last dose. The booster dose will be voluntary and free-of-cost.

Read More: K-P reports its first case of Omicron amid fears of fifth Covid wave

Omicron spreads

A statement issued from the Sindh Chief Minster House stated that the infection rate of Covid-19 and Omicron variants have started increasing day-by-day which have been recorded at 11.1 per cent and 95 per cent respectively.

“Since August 11, 2021, today we have the highest number of 1,347 cases detected through 12,114 PCR tests while Karachi has shown a 20 per cent detection rate,” said a statement.

It said that 42 samples were tested against which 40 more cases of Omicron variant were detected, lifting the tally to 407. The current detection rate of the Omicron variant constitutes 95 per cent, the statement said, adding that nine more patients of Coronavirus died overnight lifting the death toll to 7,691 that came to 1.6 per cent death rate.

It was the highest single-day death toll from the pandemic in months. Currently 11,738 patients were under treatment, of them the condition of 158 patients was stated to be critical, including 17 shifted to ventilators.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2022.