After 20 days, Pakistan's coronavirus positivity rate crosses 3%

• Pakistan reports coronavirus positivity rate of 3.27% Wednesday morning.
• The last time the positivity rate was 3% was on June 17.
• National Command and Operation Centre says 1,517 new COVID-19 cases detected in last 24 hours.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's coronavirus positivity rate passed the 3% mark Wednesday morning for the first time in the last 20 days. 

The country recorded a positivity rate of 3.27%. The last time the positivity rate was 3% was on June 17.

Another 17 people died from coronavirus in Pakistan on Wednesday, data by the National Command and Operation Centre showed.

According to the latest statistics by the NCOC, 46,287 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, out of which 1,517 people tested positive for the infection.

Read more: Pakistan closes Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan over virus fears

The total number of deaths from the virus so far stands at 22,469 and the total number of cases has reached 966,007, while 909,525 people have recovered from the virus so far. The active number of cases are 34,013.

Statistics show only 3.5% of Pakistan's population vaccinated so far

Despite the government's campaign to vaccinate as many people as possible against the novel coronavirus, only 3.5% of the population in the country has been inoculated so far.

According to a report by Geo News, so far, only 3.5% of the 100 million people eligible for the anti-coronavirus vaccine have been fully vaccinated, the report said.

According to data released by the NCOC, a total of 17,390,346 vaccine jabs have been provided across the country as of July 6.

Read more: 2 million doses of Sinovac vaccine arrive in Pakistan

Statistics show that more than 14% of the population has been partially vaccinated, while 290,377 vaccine jabs were administered across the country on July 5.

NCOC warns of strict restrictions amid violations of COVID-19 SOPs

On Monday, the NCOC had warned of strict restrictions as it observed violation of coronavirus SOPs in several sectors following the relaxation of curbs.

The NCOC's warning came during a meeting, with Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar in the chair, a statement from the forum said.

The forum expressed serious concerns over the violation of SOPs at restaurants, in-door gymnasiums, marriage halls, transportation, markets, tourist spots, among other sectors.