COVID-19 numbers continue to climb fast in Pakistan during Omicron surge

Web Desk

January 24, 2022

Students stand in queues as they wait for their turn to receive a dose of Pfizer vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a school in Lahore on October 1, 2021. — AFP/File

Pakistan logs 7,195 fresh COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours, NCOC data shows.
New cases take positivity rate to 12.53%, official figures show.
Eight new deaths from COVID-19 take death toll to 29,105, stats show.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded more than 7,000 coronavirus cases for the second straight day in the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) statistics showed Monday morning, as the country continues to witness an uptick in its daily numbers amid the Omicron surge.

As many as 7,195 coronavirus cases were recorded during this period, which were down from 7,586, after 57,401 tests were conducted, with the positivity ratio reaching 12.53%, which has remained above 10% for the fifth consecutive day, the NCOC's data showed.

Following the detection of new cases, the overall cases reached 1.37 million, while eight more deaths from coronavirus pushed the death toll to 29,105, the statistics showed.

As many as 1,113 patients are on critical care, while 833 more people have recovered from the pandemic in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 1.269 million, the official figures showed. Meanwhile, the active cases stand at 76,617.

Cities with positivity ratio above 10%

Karachi — 37.23%
Peshwar — 26.47%
Muzaffarabad — 25%
Hyderabad — 18.05%
Rawalpindi — 17.36%
Mardan — 16.01%
Lahore — 15.02%
Abbottabad — 13.32%
Islamabad — 12.72%
Nowshera — 12.24%

The forum last week revised protocols for mosques amid the rising number of coronavirus cases, with the NCOC only allowing fully vaccinated people to enter places of worship.

The body leading Pakistan's COVID-19 response also announced last Friday that all schools with a high COVID-19 positivity ratio would remain closed for one week across the country.

Meanwhile, as the cases move up, so are rumours of a lockdown. The NCOC keeps updating citizens about such fake notifications and news. Two days back, a notification was circulating on social media that a lockdown was going to be imposed, which the forum rebutted.