Highest in four months: Pakistan's coronavirus positivity rate shoots up to 7.2%

Pakistan reported its highest daily positivity rate since July on Sunday, a day before the government is to decide whether to close schools early for winter holidays.

On Sunday, Pakistan conducted 29,511 tests across the country, much below its daily test capacity of 74,227, as per the data of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). It recorded 2,128 new cases, while 19 people lost their lives to the deadly virus.

The positivity rate, according to the official tally, climbed up to 7.21% on Sunday, the highest since July 22.

Troublingly, Pakistan has also been reporting deaths in doubt digits in the last week, while new cases have remained over the 2,000-mark for the last four days.

Read more: Coronavirus cases in Pakistan and abroad on November 16

Meanwhile, today a meeting of education ministers chaired by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood deferred the decision on school closure and early and extended winters vacations till November 23.

Last week, the NCOC had warned that the positivity rate in educational institutes was high as coronavirus cases continue to rise and officials warn that Pakistan is in the grip of a “second wave”.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pakistani cities and districts which have recorded the highest test positive ratio in the past few weeks are Multan, Rawalpindi, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Hyderabad and Karachi.