(Karachi) The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has said that Karachi recorded the highest positivity ratio of COVID-19 cases which stands at 20.88 percent followed by Balochistan with a ratio of 10.48 percent.

As per details, the countrywide positivity ratio has reached 6.59 percent in the past 24 hours, the NCOC stated.

Azad Kashmir recorded 8.70 percent positive cases while Gilgit Baltistan region has minimum positivity rate in the country with 1.23 percent. Punjab has 3.87 percent test positivity rate, it said.

The corona test positivity rate in Islamabad and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been recorded at 4.27 percent and 4.12 percent respectively.

In cities, the NCOC noted that Hyderabad has 8.33 percent positive cases, Rawalpindi 9.94 percent, Faisalabad 2.36 percent, Multan 1.90 percent, Swat 5.76 percent, Quetta 3.72 percent, Peshawar 15.5 percent and Abbottabad 8.60 percent.

Earlier today, Pakistan recorded 71 deaths due to the COVID-19 while 2,729 new cases were reported across the country. With more fatalities, the total death tally due to the deadly disease has reached 8,724.

The Government of Pakistan had allocated funds worth $150 million to buy a COVID-19 vaccine directly from international manufacturers by the second quarter of 2021. It hopes to start immunizing its 220 million population soon.