Friday was another day of coronavirus record in Pakistan as 4,286 new cases were reported, the National Command and Operation’s Centre (NCOC) data showed on Saturday morning.
It was the highest number of cases in a day since August 25, 2021. Moreover, the positivity ratio also shot up to 8.16 percent, the highest since August 11, when 52,522 tests were conducted across the country, according to the NCOC data.
The total number of cases has reached 1.32 million after these new infections, while the death toll now stands at 29,003 as four people died due to coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, situation in Karachi has become alarming as positivity ratio went up to 35.30 percent. Health officials fear that the positivity ratio might hit 50 percent, leading to an increase in hospitalisations.
The officials said that cases were expected to shoot up to 6,000.
The positivity ratio in Lahore was recorded at 8.5 percent, Islamabad 6.95 percent, Rawalpindi at 9.94 percent and Muzaffarabad at 11.90 percent in last 24 hours.
SINDH: Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah has called a meeting of the provincial government today to discuss the COVID-19 situation in Karachi.
Members of the COVID-19 task force, the Sindh Health Department, and coronavirus specialists will attend the meeting to talk about the ongoing situation in the city.
Earlier, talking to journalists in Karachi, the chief minister had said the decision to impose lockdown and close educational institutions would be taken according to the NCOC’s recommendations.
He said that the coronavirus cases were rising at a rapid pace in Karachi, but the situation was under control as hospitalisations and patients in intensive care units (ICU) in the port city were less.
GET BOOSTER: Meanwhile, the NCOC had also urged the citizens above 18 years to get the coronavirus vaccine’s booster jab, as the Omicron variant pushes infections across the country.
The free booster dose will be administered to people after a six-month gap from when their vaccination was completed.
