Vaccination only way to ward off Omicron threat

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Friday urged the general public to ensure that they are fully vaccinated and have received booster dose if eligible in order to ward off the Omicron threat.

It also urged the masses to follow SOPs including the wearing of masks and social distancing as the fifth wave of the pandemic continues unabated across the country, driven by the Omicron variant of novel coronavirus.

In a tweet, NCOC – the nerve centre of the government’s synchronised strategy to contain the coronavirus spread – also stressed taking special care of the elderly as admissions and mortality rate are higher among senior citizens.

It also shared details of cities with high positivity as Peshawar leads with 29.65%, Karachi at second place with 27.92%, Muzafarabad 26.40%, Mardan 22.73%, Hyderabad 20.59%, Lahore 20.58%, Gilgit 18.23%, Islamabad 17.13%, Nowshera 17.01%, Abbottabad 12.93%, Swabi 11.21%, and Mirpur 11.04%.

Read more: NCOC extends Covid curbs till Feb 15

Earlier in the day, NCOC extended the virus-induced curbs announced earlier this month until February 15.

In the Covid hotspots, the NCOC had already notified that outdoor events would be restricted to 300 fully vaccinated persons. Similarly, vaccination had been made compulsory for all the students above 12 years of age. It said that half of the strength of students under the age of 12 would attend classes.

The NCOC said that 52% of the eligible population had been vaccinated against the infectious disease. According to a statement, the number of eligible population was 153.6 million, out of whom 83 million people had been vaccinated. The NCOC said that 23.5 million people had been partially vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the NCOC said in its daily update that 7,539 people tested positive for the infectious disease during the last 24 hours, pushing the number of active cases to 91,854, the highest level since September 10, 2021. It added that 1,240 patients were in critical condition.

The forum said that the national positivity ratio during the past 24 hours was 11.91%. It was the seventh consecutive day of more than 10% positivity rate and the highest level since April 2021. According to the update 25 people breathed their last during the past 24 hours.

Most of the new cases, 2,488, emerged in Sindh, followed by 1,842 cases in Punjab and 1,446 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), according to the NCOC. The forum also said that the highest number of deaths, 12, also occurred in Sindh, followed by 7 in Punjab and 6 in K-P.