Coronavirus in Pakistan: Number of patients on critical care surges past 1,000

• Patients on critical care have reached 1,055.
• 6,540 infections push positivity ratio to 11.10%.
• Twelve more people lose their lives to COVID.

ISLAMABAD: More than 1,000 patients infected with coronavirus have been shifted to critical care across Pakistan, according to official figures, as the COVID situation worsens due to the Omicron variant.

The patients on critical care have reached 1,055, up from 961 a day earlier, after the condition of 94 worsened in the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) data showed.

Read more: Omicron surge brings Pakistan highest COVID-19 cases since start of pandemic

The positivity ratio stood at 11.10%, down from 12.93% a day earlier, as 6,540 infections were reported across the country after 58,902 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, the NCOC data showed.

Following the new infections, the overall cases have reached 1.36 million, while 12 more deaths have taken the death toll to 29,077, according to NCOC's data.

NCOC takes decision on schools

In light of rising coronavirus cases, the NCOC on Friday announced to close all schools across the country with a high COVID-19 positivity ratio for one week.

"Education institutions, premises, sections, specific classes with high positivity to be closed for ONE week," the NCOC had said in a notification.

The notification had further added that provincial administration, in consultation with district health, education authorities, and school administrations, are to set a threshold of cases for deciding such closures.

The NCOC had stated that COVID testing in education institutes was carried out in major Omicron hit cities to ascertain disease spread among students and ensure accurate disease mapping.

Therefore, keeping in view the results, the NCOC has taken the following decisions:

• Aggressive testing in education institutes for next two weeks especially in high disease prevalence cities.
• Federating units to carry out special vaccination drives in schools to ensure 100% vaccination of students over 12 years of age.