Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across Pakistan

Positivity rate surges to 13% as 7,586 new cases emerge

LAHORE:

The fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen across Pakistan as 7,586 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) revealed on Sunday.

This is the second-highest figure of cases recorded in Pakistan, the highest being 7,678 reported two days ago. Pakistan has recorded 1,367,605 coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

According to the NCOC, during the past 24 hours, 58,334 tests were conducted, out of which 7,586 came back positive. Thus, the positivity rate shot up to 13 percent, signalling a rapid increase in cases.

During this period, 20 coronavirus patients lost their lives, taking the death toll to 29,097. As of Sunday, there were 70,000 active cases across the country, with 1,083 of these being in critical condition.

The NCOC also gave a breakdown of new cases and casualties. Sindh recorded 3,359 new cases and eight deaths, Punjab 1,988 cases, five deaths, Islamabad 1,497 cases, one death, Khyber Pakthunkhwa (K-P) 590 cases, five deaths. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) registered 88 cases, one death, Balochistan 55 cases, and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) nine cases.

Read Omicron spread sets off alarm bells

Meanwhile, 647 people recovered from the coronavirus disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 1.268 million.

As the country grapples with the fifth wave, the government is stepping up its vaccination efforts while imposing new restrictions.

During the past 24 hours, the NCOC said, 470,601 people were administered the coronavirus vaccine, taking the total number of fully vaccinated citizens to 78,870,534. During this period, 286,593 citizens received the first dose of the vaccine.

The forum also said that so far 102,976,552 citizens are yet to receive the first dose of the vaccine.

As for restrictions, a day ago, the NCOC announced new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for mosques and other places of worship because of the increasing cases of the Omicron variant.

According to these SOPs, only vaccinated citizens would be allowed into mosques and other places of worship.

Moreover, the government also decided to increase coronavirus testing in educational institutions, especially in areas where the positivity rate was high.

It decided to cap schools’ attendance at 50 percent, restrict indoor gatherings, including indoor dining, in areas with more than a 10 percent positivity rate.

It also decided to keep 100 percent attendance in schools for vaccinated children above 12 years of age.