Rising number of infants, teens contracting coronavirus seen in Punjab

• 12,462 children have contracted coronavirus in Punjab.
• In Lahore alone, 5,301 children have contracted COVID-19.
• Lahore's COVID-19 positivity ratio has shot up to 18%.

As many as 12,462 children have contracted coronavirus in Punjab, the province's health department said, revealing that the infected include patients ranging from infants to children of 15 years.

In Lahore alone, 5,301 children have contracted coronavirus, with the provincial capital's COVID-19 positivity ratio reaching 18% in the last 24 hours.

The spokesperson for the Primary and Secondary Health Care Department in Punjab said 16,473 COVID-19 tests were carried out in the province in the last 24 hours — and 2,330 people were found to be infected. The province's overall cases have exceeded 210,000, and the death toll has moved up to 6,188.

In Lahore, in the last 24 hours, 6,762 tests were carried out, and 1,233 people tested positive for the infection — raising the city's positivity ratio to 18%.

In a similar development, Islamabad on Friday had registered coronavirus infections in 49 children aged 1-10, the district health officer had said in a report.

The officer said in the last 24 hours, Islamabad had registered 548 coronavirus cases, bumping up the total infections to 53,684 — with a positivity ratio of 12.27%.

According to the report, 5,291 children in all, between the ages of 1-10, have contracted the virus in Islamabad.