COVID-19: Pakistan ranks second on Economist’s normalcy index

• Pakistan ranks second on The Economist’s global normalcy index.
• Pakistan was third in first evaluation and number one in the second, says Asad Umar.
  
• Pakistan is only country in the world to be among top 3 in all three rankings, says Asad Umar. 
  

Pakistan has ranked second in The Economist’s Global Normalcy Index for COVID-19, said Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Thursday in a tweet. 

The Global Normalcy Index aims to determine which countries are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, and grades each country using eight indicators split into three categories: transport, recreation and commercial activity.

Taking to Twitter, the minister said Pakistan was "3rd in the first evaluation and number one in the second."

He said Pakistan is the only country in the world to be among top 3 in all three rankings. 

According to the Global Normalcy Index published on January 18, 2022, Pakistan is one of the only two countries where normalcy is higher than 100, suggesting that activity is above pre-pandemic levels. 

Egypt topped the index.

The index monitors 50 countries, which together account for 75% of the global population and 90% of GDP.

According to The Economist monitor, normalcy has decreased in 42 of the countries over the last four weeks as they grapple with the spread of Omicron. But compared with January last year, when few people were vaccinated, it has improved in 47 of the 50 countries, by an average of 22 points.

According to the report, China is one of three countries where normalcy has decreased in recent months. The report states that despite the fact that 90% of adults in China are double-vaccinated, there is no indication that the government intends to go back to normal day-today routine.

Pakistan records second highest daily COVID-19 cases since 2020

On January 20 (today), Pakistan recorded 6,808 new COVID-19 cases, the second-highest daily case count since the coronavirus pandemic started in 2020, official figures showed Thursday morning, as the country witnesses a rapid rise in infections due to the Omicron variant.

The highest daily toll was recorded on June 13, 2020, when the country reported 6,825 coronavirus cases, the National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) data showed.

The positivity rate in the country jumped to a nine-month high Thursday morning as the infection rate was reported at 11.55% after 58,943 tests were conducted, the NCOC's data showed.