Positivity rate soars to 3.66pc: Country witnessing rapid surge in Covid-19 cases: NCOC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is witnessing a rapid surge in the Covid-19 cases as within the past 10 days positivity rate has jumped from 1.08 percent to 3.66 percent showing an increase of 338.9 percent since the start of the new year.

According to the Covid-19 data released here on Monday by the Pakistan National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the country during the past 24 hours recorded 1,649 fresh coronavirus cases with a positivity ratio of 3.66 percent taking the national tally of Covid-19 infections to 1,350,707, since the pandemic outbreak.

Another 330 people have recovered from the coronavirus, taking the country’s total to 1,258,987, while there are total 17,748 active cases in the country, of whom 617 are in a critical condition and admitted at various Covid-19 dedicated health facilities.

The NCOC further said that three more coronavirus patients died in the past 24 hours taking the death toll to 28,972.

According to the NCOC data on January 1, 2022, total 51,141 coronavirus tests were conducted nationwide, of which, 556 returned positive, showing a positivity rate of 1.08 percent, while the NCOC data released on January 10, 2022 revealed out of total 45,002 Covid-19 tests carried out in the past 24 hours 1,649 returned positive, reflecting a positivity rate of 3.6 percent.

The country has registered over 1,000 Covid-19 cases for the fifth straight day, as the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 continues to push infection rates across the country. After October 3, 2021 for the first time on January 9, 2022 Pakistan’s Covid-19 cases daily tally crossed 1,500 marked as on Sunday, Pakistan registered 1,572 Covid-19 cases, which on Monday further jumped to 1,649.

In the past 24 hours, Sindh reported 928 new Covid-19 cases, Punjab reported 561 cases along with one death, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 42 cases along with one death, Balochistan reported one case, Islamabad reported 113 cases, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) reported two cases, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) reported two cases and one death.

Meanwhile, Chairman NCOC Asad Umar has urged the people to remain cautious in order to curtail the spread of the coronavirus in the face of a rising positivity rate.

“People should follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) for saving themselves from Covid-19, which is currently spreading fast in the country,” he said, while addressing the prize distribution ceremony organised by the NCOC to honour teams that worked to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Umar said the people who are not vaccinated so far must get jabbed as soon as possible, adding that people who were fully vaccinated six months ago and are over 30 years of age should get a booster dose.

The minister lauded the efforts of all ground workers, vaccination teams, the NCOC, health workers and federal as well as provincial agencies for coordinated efforts that helped to make the campaign successful.

He said that the campaign against coronavirus would be remembered because the whole nation made collective efforts to stop its spread. The district teams which received appreciation certificates and shields included Jhelum, Mianwali, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal, Attock, Bhakkar, Sargodha, Lodhran, Karachi South and East, Chitral Lower and Upper, Mastung, Chaman, Lasbela, Harnai, Awaran, Surab, Naseerabad, Hunza, Ghizer, Mirpur, Tharparkar, Orakzai, and Neelam.

Health authorities, so far have administered a total of 162.1 million coronavirus vaccine doses to the people, with over 73 million people fully vaccinated and more than 99 million people partially vaccinated.

The top three districts that achieved the target of vaccinating the maximum number of people include Kalat 87 percent, Karachi South 82 percent, Islamabad 77 percent, while the three districts of the remote area who achieved vaccination targets despite difficult terrain and limited resources include Orakzai 54 percent, Neelam 56 percent, and Tharparkar 51 percent.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022