Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity ratio lingers over 3% for the third straight day, as COVID-19’s Omicron variant continues to spread all over the country and push infection rates.

The National Command and Operations Centre’s (NCOC) Tuesday morning data showed that 1,467 cases were reported from all over the country after 43,540 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. This took the positivity ratio to 3.33%.

The detection of new cases moved overall infections past 1.307 million, while two more deaths were reported that surged the death toll to 28,974, NCOC’s website showed.

A day earlier, Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives and NCOC chief Asad Umar had urged the nation to remain cautious to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the face of a rising positivity rate.

“People should follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) to save themselves from COVID-19 which is currently spreading fast in the country,” he said while addressing a prize distribution ceremony organised by the NCOC to honour teams that worked to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

During the ceremony, Umar had said that the people who are not vaccinated so far must get jabbed as soon as possible.

The NCOC chief had said: “People who were fully vaccinated six months ago and are over 30 years of age should get a booster dose.”

Despite the closure of clinics and labs on Sunday, 759 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Karachi when 4,891 tests were conducted, officials said Monday morning.

The positivity ratio in Pakistan’s biggest city was recorded at 15.52% in Karachi because of the spread of the Omicron variant, officials added.

In light of the increasing cases, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Administrator Murtaza Wahab had hinted at resorting to strict COVID-19 restrictions to curb infection rates.