Pakistan logs over 1,500 daily COVID-19 cases as country continues battle against Omicron

• Pakistan reports 1,572 new COVID-19 infections in last 24 hours, NCOC data shows.
• Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity rate surges to 3.16%.
• Seven more people die of virus during same period.  

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported over 1,500 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time since October 3 as the country continues to battle against the fifth wave of the pandemic, data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) showed Sunday morning.

As per the latest statistics of the NCOC, 1,572 people tested positive for the coronavirus after 49,658 COVID-19 tests were taken across the county in the last 24 hours. This brings the positivity rate to 3.16%.

Meanwhile, seven more people succumbed to the virus during the same period.  

Karachi sees alarming surge in COVID cases

A day earlier, the Sindh government had warned of resorting to ‘stringent measures’ if people continued to defy standard operating procedures (SOPs) in Karachi where the positivity rate of COVID-19 is continuously on the rise due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

“Positivity of COVID-19 cases is alarmingly on the rise in Karachi where it touched 11.72%. Fortunately, hospitalisation is not rising and currently only 18 patients are in the ICUs and HDUs," MPA Qasim was quoted as saying by The News. 

He warned that if people continued to defy the SOPs and the burden on hospitals starts to rise, no other option would be left except to take "stringent measures".