Pakistan's coronavirus positivity rate over 10% for sixth consecutive day
More restrictions expected this week to control rising COVID-19 cases in country, officials say
January 25, 2022
- Pakistan registers coronavirus positivity rate at 12.81%.
- Officials expect more coronavirus curbs during this week.
- 6,357 new coronavirus cases recorded in last 24 hours.
ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus positivity ratio of Pakistan remained above 10% for the sixth consecutive day, the National Command and Operation Centre's (NCOC) data showed Tuesday morning, as the spread of the pandemic does not seem to slow down.
The country recorded positivity rate of 12.81% as 6,357 new coronavirus cases were recorded after 49,595 tests were conducted across Pakistan in the last 24 hours, NCOC's figures showed.
Read more: COVID-19 numbers continue to climb fast in Pakistan during Omicron surge
With the detection of new cases, the overall positivity has jumped to 1.381 million, while 17 more patients have succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 29,122, the official stats showed.
'More restrictions'
Medics have told Geo News that the continuous trend of rising cases due to the Omicron variant has moved up the numbers of patients on critical care.
Meanwhile, officials have said that Pakistan might experience its peak in the first or second week of February.
"More restrictions are expected this week to control this situation," officials said.
Cities with COVID infection rates above 10%
- Karachi — 40.68%
- Muzaffarabad — 29.41%
- Peshawar — 23.89%
- Hyderabad — 21.53%
- Lahore — 15.83%
- Rawalpindi — 12.50%
Overall situation in districts
As the fifth wave of the coronavirus surges through the country, due to the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, major cities in Pakistan have seen an uptick in test positive ratio, which is the percentage of tests that came back positive for COVID-19 out of the total conducted.
In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised governments that before reopening, rates of positivity should remain at 5% or below for at least 14 days. The Pakistan government has also directed curbs in cities which report positivity rates over 10%.
|
District |
COVID-19 lab tests in 24 hours |
Positive cases in 24 hours |
Positivity percentage |
|
Mirpur |
101 |
11 |
10.89% |
|
Muzaffarabad |
102 |
30 |
29.41% |
|
Quetta |
320 |
23 |
7.19% |
|
Diamer |
76 |
6 |
7.89% |
|
Gilgit |
114 |
11 |
9.65% |
|
Skardu |
123 |
1 |
0.81% |
|
Islamabad |
8,234 |
1,836 |
22.30% |
|
Abbottabad |
483 |
12 |
2.48% |
|
Bannu |
81 |
0 |
0% |
|
Mardan |
426 |
28 |
6.57% |
|
Nowshera |
146 |
10 |
6.85% |
|
Peshawar |
879 |
210 |
23.89% |
|
Swabi |
376 |
10 |
2.66% |
|
Swat |
606 |
12 |
1.98% |
|
Bahawalpur |
215 |
14 |
6.51% |
|
Faisalabad |
1,310 |
61 |
4.66% |
|
Gujranwala |
1,210 |
30 |
2.48% |
|
Gujrat |
542 |
10 |
1.85% |
|
Jhelum |
620 |
15 |
2.42% |
|
Lahore |
7,422 |
1,175 |
15.83% |
|
Multan |
677 |
37 |
5.47% |
|
Rawalpindi |
1,600 |
200 |
12.50% |
|
Sargodha |
266 |
26 |
9.77% |
|
Hyderabad |
929 |
200 |
21.53% |
|
Karachi |
4,779 |
1,944 |
40.68% |
New SOPs for Islamabad schools
In light of the new cases, the education ministry and Islamabad administration had a day earlier jointly devised a new strategy to halt the disruption of education in schools.
According to the Islamabad deputy commissioner (DC), if any student tests positive in a given class, instead of closing down the school, only the respective class will be dismissed, and students will be sent home to quarantine.
The decision has been taken to prevent the disruption of education, DC Islamabad said.
