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ISLAMABAD: An alarming upsurge has been witnessed in the coronavirus cases, as Pakistan has registered the highest number of virus infections in the last 24 hours since September 24, 2021.
The National Command and Operations Centre’s (NCOC) data showed Wednesday that the positivity ratio has reached 4.70 percent. The country registered the highest number of coronavirus infections of 2,074 with 13 deaths, the highest deaths since December 15, 2021, pushing the death toll to 28,987, official figures showed.
The overall infections have jumped past 1.309 million, while the recovery ratio stands at 96.2 percent as 1.26 million people have recovered from the virus. The country’s partial vaccinations, as of Tuesday, moved up to 163.65 million after 811,901 more people received the jab, according to the NCOC. Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, Karachi’s coronavirus positivity ratio has moved past 20.22%, with the Sindh Health Department mulling over a 14-day “special vaccination programme” in several cities of Sindh.
As per the official statistics, 6,048 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours in the city, out of which 1,223 returned positive. In 95% of the positive cases, Omicron is being confirmed. Lahore’s COVID-19 positivity rate has surged to 7%, Islamabad 4.5% and Rawalpindi 4%.
Meanwhile, during the week 3-9 January 2022, the new weekly Covid-19 cases increased markedly by 55 percent globally, while the new weekly deaths remained similar to those reported during the previous week. This corresponds to over 15 million new cases and over 43,000 new deaths. As of 9 January, over 304 million confirmed cases and over 5.4 million deaths have been reported
All regions reported an increase in the incidence of weekly cases except for the Africa region, which reported an 11% decrease. The South-East Asia region reported the largest increase in new cases last week (418%), followed by the Western Pacific region (122%), the Eastern Mediterranean region (86%), the region of the Americas (78%) and the European region (31%).
New weekly deaths increased in the African region (84%) and region of the Americas (26%) while it remained similar to the previous week in the Western Pacific region. A decrease in new weekly deaths was reported in the Eastern Mediterranean region (11%), the European region (10%) and in the South-East Asia region (6%).
Despite rising cases, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said a day earlier that Pakistan would not undergo another lockdown and dismissed reports of schools’ closure. The information minister, addressing a post-cabinet press conference, said the federal cabinet was informed that the Covid-19 positivity ratio has doubled in the country.
“But despite this, it is our resolve that we absolutely not impose a lockdown in Pakistan. Our economy cannot bear the burden [of another lockdown],” he said. The information minister said “an excellent” vaccination campaign was underway and the government had invested $2 billion into the vaccines. – TLTP
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