Sindh health dept says no notification over Covid restrictions issued

The Sindh Health Department has rejected a notification floating around regarding coronavirus restrictions being imposed in the province, and termed it "fake".

"Please be wary of photoshopped images that are spreading fake information during the pandemic," the department tweeted. It further said that the document is fake and no such notification has been issued from the Sindh Government or Sindh Health Department.

"If forwarded to you, inform the sender it is inauthentic," the department cautioned.

The new variant of Covid-19 Omicron has infected over 260 people in Sindh, while the positivity ratio in Karachi reached 10.25% as 650 people were infected during the last 24 hours. So far, Sindh has reported 484,985 cases and 7,678 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Lockdown option not being considered: Sindh health minister

While speaking to the media in Hyderabad on Friday, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said that the authorities were not considering imposing a lockdown in the province. The minister said that the decision on lockdown in the province is dependant on the rate of hospitalisation.

Omicron will spread in Pakistan, warns Asad Umar

"If hospitals start filling up with patients and there is no space left, then we will go towards a lockdown," Dr Pechuho said.

Pakistan logs nearly 1,300 new cases, highest in 3 months

Meanwhile, Pakistan reported 1,293 infections on January 6, the highest since October last year as the country's overall tally also crossed 1.3 million.

As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 51,145 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, Pakistan has confirmed 1,301,141 Covid-19 cases. Currently, there are 14,094 active Covid-19 cases and 609 critical cases in Pakistan.