Pakistan's coronavirus positivity rate nears 10%

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's coronavirus cases rose by 3,795 in the past 24 hours, raising the tally to 420,294 as the country struggles to contain the second wave of infections with the positivity rate nearing 10%, data issued by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) showed on Monday.

For the first time in five months, the country's case positivity rate climbed to 9.7% with SARS-CoV-2 being detected in 3,795 samples out of the total 39,076 PCR tests conducted throughout Pakistan. 

With 37 new deaths, the COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 8,398. There are 55,354 active cases across the country - of which 2,539 are in critical care. Condition of 103 patients has deteriorated in the past 24 hours.

With a seven-day average of over 3,000 cases, Pakistan has recorded 22,271 new infections in the past week. The mortality rate has fallen to 1.9% from 2.0% last week.

The country has a recovery rate of over 84% as 356,542 patients have defeated the virus since the outbreak surfaced in February this year. 

In the past 24 hours, the highest positivity rate has been observed in Karachi at 21.31% followed by Abbottabad at 17.86% and Peshawar 16.66%. Hyderabad recorded positivity rate of 14% while Rawalpindi reported 12.09% and Lahore 9.74%. 

Read more: Mutations, marriages or mausam — What's driving up coronavirus cases in Pakistan?

Restrictions

With the COVID-19 pandemic progressively getting worse in Pakistan, the government has placed fresh restrictions across the country to prevent the spread of the virus during its second wave.

Following recommendations by the NCOC, the federal government has made face masks mandatory in public spaces, limited large public gatherings to 300, banned indoor weddings, closed shrines, cinemas, and theatres, and instructed public and private offices to adopt work-from-home policy and 50% occupancy.

The federal government also announced that educational institutes will remain closed from November 26 to January 10. The students will study at home or get weekly homework till December 24 and winter vacations will start December 25. The schools will reopen on January 11 - which is subject to coronavirus situation then. All examinations have been postponed except admission and recruitment tests.

Read more: Active coronavirus cases surge past 50,000 in Pakistan

Furthermore, all provinces have banned indoor dining and limited timings for markets, shops, and shopping malls. Many areas in the country have been placed under smart lockdowns.