Karachi's Omicron tally swells to 163

• New 650 infections detected overnight push Karachi's positivity ratio to 10.25%
• Omicron variant outbreak main reason behind rising cases in Karachi.
• Pakistan's positivity ratio climbs to 2.52% with 1,293 new cases.

KARACHI: As many as 30 new confirmed cases of Omicron variant surfaced in Karachi, health department said Friday, taking the total tally of Omicron cases in the metropolis to 163.

A statement issued by the health department said that the new patients of Omicron include women as well.

It said that most of the cases are being reported from district East while the second most affected district is South. However, Omicron infections have been detected from district Central, West and Korangi as well.

Karachi's COVID-19 positivity ratio climbs to 10.25%

With an alarming surge in coronavirus cases in Karachi, the positivity ratio of the megacity reached 10.25% as 650 people were found infected with the virus overnight, the federal ministry of health said earlier in the day.

As per the statistics issued by the ministry, 6,340 tests were conducted in Karachi during the last 24 hours out of which 650 returned positive taking the positivity ratio above 10%.

The health ministry officials said that the reason behind the rising cases in Karachi is an outbreak of the Omicron variant.

"Omicron is replacing the other variants of coronavirus while Delta and Kappa variant cases are declining," the officials said.

Meanwhile, 1,293 new infections were detected across the country today, statistics issued by National Command and Operation Centre showed.

The new infections pushed Pakistan's positivity ratio above 2.5%.

As many as six more patients succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, while 609 patients are in critical condition.

The casualties took the nationwide death tally to 28,961, while 239 patients recuperated, placing the number of total recoveries at 1,258,086.

According to the NCOC, the total number of cases reported so far has reached 1,301,141.

‘Alarming’ situation in Karachi

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said infections with the Omicron variant are constantly on the rise, especially in Karachi, where the positivity rate of COVID-19 cases is rising alarmingly due to the rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus, and urged people to follow the standard operating procedures.

CM Shah said that between December 28, 2021 and January 2, 2022, whole-genome sequencing of 133 samples was carried out, of which 95 were detected as Omicron, taking the variant's tally to 268 in the province. He added that a few cases have travel histories, otherwise most of them were locally transmitted.

It may be noted that Sindh had 173 Omicron cases earlier, and with the emergence of 95 new cases, the number has increased to 268.

“It shows that the new variant is spreading fast and needs to be controlled through precautionary measures,” said the CM.

As of Thursday, CM Shah said that two more patients of the coronavirus died, lifting the death toll to 7,678, which constituted a 1.6% death rate.