January 28, 2022
Lahore witnessed an alarming rise in its COVID-19 positivity rate after it shot up from 15.25% to 20.58% in a single day as the spread of the pandemic does not seem to slow down anywhere in the country.
As of January 27, 1,380 new infections were detected in Lahore during the last 24 hours when 6,705 samples underwent the diagnostic test.
Latest district-wise coronavirus stats suggested that Peshawar remained to be the city with the highest COVID-19 positivity ratio on the second consecutive day, with 29.65% positivity after only a slight decline overnight.
Meanwhile, Karachi ranked the second-most affected city with 27.92% positivity, Islamabad’s positivity percentage also registered a slight uptick rising to 17.13% on January 27.
District |
Covid-19 lab tests in 24 hours |
Positive cases in 24 hours |
Positivity percentage |
Mirpur |
453 |
50 |
11.04% |
Muzaffarabad |
519 |
137 |
26.40% |
Quetta |
413 |
27 |
6.54% |
Diamer |
113 |
7 |
6.19% |
Gilgit |
60 |
11 |
18.33% |
Skardu |
74 |
0 |
0% |
Islamabad |
9,048 |
1,550 |
17.13% |
Abbottabad |
348 |
45 |
12.93% |
Bannu |
252 |
12 |
4.76% |
Mardan |
814 |
185 |
22.73% |
Nowshera |
341 |
58 |
17.01S% |
Peshawar |
2405 |
713 |
29.65% |
Swabi |
553 |
62 |
11.21% |
Swat |
550 |
23 |
4.18% |
Bahawalpur |
654 |
54 |
8.26% |
Faisalabad |
1,120 |
85 |
7.59% |
Gujranwala |
907 |
44 |
4.85% |
Gujrat |
590 |
17 |
2.88% |
Jhelum |
282 |
21 |
7.45% |
Lahore |
6,705 |
1,380 |
20.58% |
Multan |
1,047 |
88 |
8.40% |
Rawalpindi |
3,554 |
363 |
10.21% |
Sargodha |
623 |
26 |
4.17% |
Hyderabad |
2,006 |
413 |
20.59% |
Karachi |
6,168 |
1,722 |
27.92% |
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 Organisation (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%.
— With additional reporting by Waqar Bhatti