COVID-19 updates: Peshawar records highest positivity in country
Peshawar replaces Karachi as most affected city; Mega city's coronavirus positivity ratio drastically drops below 30% in a single day
January 27, 2022
- Peshawar replaces Karachi as most affected city as former's COVID-19 positivity ratio drastically drops below 30%.
- Reports 726 new infections, which pushed its positivity rate to 35.89%.
- After Peshawar, Muzaffarabad reports second-highest positivity rate, 28.60%.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's capital city, Peshawar, has replaced Karachi as the most affected city of Pakistan, with its COVID-19 positivity rate exceeding 30% in a single day amid the fifth wave of the contagion.
As of January 26, a total of 726 people were found infected with COVID-19 in Peshawar, which pushed the city's positivity ratio to 35.89%, official data suggested.
Meanwhile, Karachi, which remained a COVID-19 hotspot for almost a month, witnessed a drastic drop in its positivity rate in a single day.
Karachi's positivity rate stood at 26.32% Thursday. A day earlier, it was over 40%, as per the latest stats.
Read more: Active COVID-19 cases exceed 90,000 mark in Pakistan
Moreover, Muzaffarabad recorded the second-highest positivity rate, 28.60%, after Peshawar, despite the detection of only 153 new cases in the city.
COVID-19 situation in cities across Pakistan
|
District |
Covid-19 lab tests in 24 hours |
Positive cases in 24 hours |
Positivity percentage |
|
Mirpur |
524 |
42 |
8.02% |
|
Muzaffarabad |
535 |
153 |
28.60% |
|
Quetta |
529 |
61 |
11.32% |
|
Diamer |
124 |
7 |
5.65% |
|
Gilgit |
112 |
24 |
21.43% |
|
Skardu |
60 |
0 |
0% |
|
Islamabad |
7,665 |
1,285 |
16.76% |
|
Abbottabad |
430 |
66 |
15.35% |
|
Bannu |
278 |
33 |
11.87% |
|
Mardan |
1,051 |
220 |
20.93% |
|
Nowshera |
596 |
113 |
18.96% |
|
Peshawar |
2,023 |
726 |
35.89% |
|
Swabi |
217 |
34 |
15.67% |
|
Swat |
596 |
22 |
3.69% |
|
Bahawalpur |
517 |
29 |
5.61% |
|
Faisalabad |
911 |
55 |
6.04% |
|
Gujranwala |
1,165 |
38 |
3.26% |
|
Gujrat |
782 |
9 |
1.15% |
|
Jhelum |
385 |
11 |
2.86% |
|
Lahore |
7,626 |
1,163 |
15.25% |
|
Multan |
1,638 |
66 |
4.03% |
|
Rawalpindi |
2,034 |
250 |
12.29% |
|
Sargodha |
504 |
25 |
4.96% |
|
Hyderabad |
928 |
208 |
22.41% |
|
Karachi |
7,679 |
2,021 |
26.32% |
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 positivity 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 the governments that before removing coronavirus-related restrictions, rates of positivity should remain at 5% or below for at least 14 days. The Pakistan government has also directed curbs in cities that report positivity rates over 10%.
Hence, the Pakistan government has decided to control the COVID-19 situation before allowing the citizens to get back to the normal routine.
The National Command and Opearation Centre (NCOC), last week revised protocols for mosques amid the rising number of coronavirus cases, with the forum only allowing fully vaccinated people to enter places of worship.
The body leading Pakistan's COVID-19 response also announced last Friday that all schools with a high COVID-19 positivity ratio would remain closed for one week across the country.
Meanwhile, as the cases move up, so are rumours of a lockdown. The NCOC keeps updating citizens about such fake notifications and news.
— With additional reporting by Waqar Bhatti
