More than 300 confirmed cases of Omicron in Pakistan

Pakistan has recorded 372 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus till now, as per the data of the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination.

The country confirmed its first case of the highly-transmissible variant on December 13 from its most populous city, Karachi. Three weeks later, the variant, which was first reported by South Africa and Botswana, has spread to its major cities.

Dr Faisal Sultan, the special assistant to the prime minister on health, confirmed to Geo.tv that a total of 372 infections of the variant have been recorded so far. Most of the cases have been reported in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

Dr Sultan added that “it [Omicron] is now in most large countries, and forms an ever increasing proportion amongst the cases detected.”

On November 26, the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated the Omicron "a variant of concern". Later, in a press briefing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, told reporters that the Omicron is spreading at a rate in the world not seen with any previous variant.

“We’re concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild. Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril,” he said.

As per a tally by the New York Times, the variant has already spread to 110 countries around the world. In fact, a month after it was identified, it became the most dominant variant in circulation in the United States.

In the last few days, Pakistan has also seen a gradual uptick in the coronavirus caseload, as on Sunday it recorded 708 new cases, the highest in over two months. On the day, during a press conference, federal minister Asad Umar also warned that there were “clear signs of a new wave” of the virus surging in the country.

Separately, Dr. Sultan has tweeted about an “unmistakable upward trend” in the positivity rate of the country in the last six days.

Pakistan as to date recorded 1,297,235 coronavirus cases and 28,943 deaths.

According to the Punjab healthcare department, 86% of the coronavirus cases in Punjab sent for genome sequencing between December 15 and January 1 were of the Omicron variant.

The spokesperson of the department told Geo.tv that “very few of the infected required hospitalized more were asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.”