COVID-19 positivity rate reaches 4-month high at 7.46 percent

ISLAMABAD: After witnessing the single-day highest coronavirus cases and fatalities on Friday and Saturday last respectively, the country witnessed the highest single-day Covid-19 positivity rate since July 22 on Sunday that has reached 7.46 percent, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday.
A meeting of the NCOC with Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar in the chair expressed concern over rising coronavirus cases across the country. The meeting was attended by Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood and the PM’s Adviser on National Health Services Faisal Sultan.
The NCOC was briefed that Pakistan’s positivity ratio has soared to 7.46 percent. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) that has been put under a blanket lockdown for a fortnight recorded the highest positivity ratio at 11.45 percent, followed by 9.85 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Sindh recorded 9.63 percent, Islamabad, 8.09 percent, Gilgit Baltistan, 5.23 percent, and Punjab has recorded 3.95 percent positivity rate.
The NCOC was apprised that the positivity ratio in educational institutions has increased from 1.8 percent to 3.3 percent during the last one week, which shows an increase of 82 percent.
It was informed that an average of 35 fatalities have been reported countrywide daily for the past two weeks. The positivity ratio of coronavirus cases in education institutions has reached 3.3 percent.
The NCOC was told that the number of cases has risen in several cities in Pakistan, including Rawalpindi, Multan, Lahore and Faisalabad in Punjab; Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh; Peshawar, Abbottabad and Swat in KP; Mirpur in AJK; Gilgit and Islamabad.
The number of critically ill Covid-19 patients also saw an alarming spike over the past two weeks, the NCOC was told.
Meanwhile, the country has recorded 2,756 fresh Covid-19 cases and 34 deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours, said the NCOC on Monday.
According to the NCOC, 34 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 7,696. A total of 1,389 patients have recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours and 1,677 patients are in critical condition.
With fresh inclusion of the infections in the country, the national tally of cases now currently stands at 376,929, whereas the active cases stand at 38,348.
A total of 36,929 tests were conducted across the country during this period. A total of 330,885 people have recovered from the deadly disease while 5,216,955 samples have been tested so far.
In Hyderabad,the University of Sindh’s Marvi Girls Hostel was sealed after 13 of the students staying there were diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to officials. The hostel will likely reopen after the building is sprayed with disinfectants.
It is noteworthy that the civic authorities in Hyderabad have imposed a smart lockdown in various parts of the city that reported a spike in Covid-19 cases of late. Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Fuad Ghaffar Soomro imposed a smart lockdown in 17 areas of the city from November 23 to December 5, 2020.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has finalised a string of measures, including allowing half the government employees to work from home, to stem the second wave of the coronavirus.
Several cities in the province are witnessing a spike in daily Covid-19 cases, including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi.
Punjab Minister for Industries Mian Aslam has been tasked to hold meetings with traders to ensure implementation of SOPs in markets. Special teams will visit markets to inspect whether the SOPs are being enforced or not. Moreover, the government decided to effectively enforce a ban on political activities across the province. – TLTP