Daily COVID-19 report: Pakistan's positivity ratio nears 3%

• Pakistan reports 382 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths in a day.
• Country's COVID-19 positivity rate swells to 2.85%.
• Pakistan's number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 4,632.

The COVID-19 positivity ratio in Pakistan is nearing 3% amid a steady surge in infections across the country, as 382 new cases were reported during the last 24 hours, National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH) data showed Monday morning.

As per the latest stats, the new infections — detected after diagnostic testing on 13,412 samples — took Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity rate to 2.85% and total case count to over 1.53 million.

Meanwhile, 87 patients suffering from the disease are being treated in intensive-care units (ICUs), while two others succumbed to the virus, taking the country's COVID-19 death toll to 30,390.

With the fresh cases and deaths, Pakistan's number of active cases stands at 4,632.

Experts say Pakistan may potentially witness another COVID-19 outbreak as the country continues to see an uptick in new cases, pushing the positivity rate further up. 

Karachi's COVID-19 positivity exceeds 22%

The situation in Karachi is growing worse as the COVID-19 positivity ratio in the city climbed to 22.65%. Such a high ratio in a single city is an alarming situation.

As per NIH, 234 out of 1,033 tests came back positive in a single day.

Meanwhile, the overall positivity rate in Sindh is 6.17%, making it the most affected province, with 260 new infections reported during the last 24 hours.

'Hospitalisations likely to rise from this week'

Former DG Health and currently Lead Strategic Adviser of CDC-USA in Pakistan Rana Muhammad Safdar had said that cases and positivity rates have more than doubled over the previous week, indicating rapid transmission.

He said that the rise is more marked in Karachi due to better testing and reporting but the risk is likely widespread.

According to Safdar, the rise in number of hospitalisations and admission of patients in ICUs may become evident from next week. However, given the high vaccination rates, the disease load is unlikely to challenge our health system capacity, he added.

Health experts stress on:

• Vigilantly watching through good surveillance and testing.
• Communication around rising risk especially in urban settings.
• Advocating mask-wearing indoors in cities reporting cases that constitute over 5% positivity.
• Vaccination with emphasis on boosters.

As per NIH, 85% of Pakistan's population has been fully vaccinated.