COVID-19 rears its ugly head again; rate of positivity 2.89pc

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus positivity rate continues to increase in the country and reached 2.89 percent, as 832 more people tested Covid positive after the tests of 28,724 over the last twenty-four hours, according to the data shared by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Sunday.
The number of daily infections reported during the last two days have been the highest since August 01, 2020.
According to the NCOC, 832 fresh infections surfaced when 28,724 samples were tested during this period, lifting the national tally of cases to 327,895. A day earlier, the positivity rate was recorded at 2.73 percent.
According to the latest statistics, the virus claimed the lives of 9 more people during the last twenty-four hours, surging the death toll to 6,736. The figure of patients recovered from the virus has reached 310,491. There are now 10,668 active cases in the country.
Around 562 of the patients currently under treatment in hospitals across the country are said to be in critical condition. A total of 4,264,053 tests have been conducted so far.
So far, Sindh has reported 143,526 cases, Punjab 102,677, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 39,015, Balochistan 15,801, Islamabad 18,921, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 3,788, and Gilgit Baltistan has reported 4,167 cases.
On October 23, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had expressed concerns over the surge in coronavirus cases and mortality during the last five days. The head of NCOC and Planning Minister Asad Umar chaired a session of the National Command and Operation Centre where provincial chief secretaries and officials of the health ministry briefed the participants via video link regarding the government steps and Covid-19 situation.
Meanwhile, the total tally for coronavirus continued to increase in the federal capital on Sunday as it recorded 186 fresh cases. Around three deaths were also recorded.
The new cases have taken Islamabad’s tally to 18,921 and the total tally of deaths stands at 210. The number of active cases in the capital territory is currently 1,141.
Meanwhile, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) reported 40 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 3,788. According to health officials, two more people recovered from the lethal virus as the total reached 2,839. No deaths were reported in the region. So far 86 have succumbed to the disease.
According to Punjab’s primary and secondary healthcare department, another 210 cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the province in 24 hours, taking the total tally to 102,677. One more death was also reported – the province’s death toll now stands at 2,335. The province has so far recorded 97,336 recoveries.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah on Sunday said that 310 new infections of novel coronavirus have surfaced in the province in the last 24 hours. In a statement, the chief minister said that Sindh health department conducted 9,019 tests of novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, out of which 310 tested positive for the disease.
Among 310 new infections in the province, 225 were reported in Karachi. – TLTP