Daily Times

COVID-19 cases in Pakistan are gradually rising, with the positivity rate rising by almost 2% over the previous five days. Karachi is the city most impacted, according to the National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIHmost )’s recent data.

The most recent data show that in a single day, 309 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the nation, bringing the positivity rate to 2.22 percent.

Diagnostic tests on 13,941 samples led to the discovery of the new cases.

In the meantime, 80 patients are receiving care in intensive care units at various hospitals across the nation. However, no deaths linked to the coronavirus have been reported in the previous 24 hours.

Furthermore, the positivity rate in Sindh rose to 6.1 percent, with Karachi alone accounting for 15.85 percent. Despite a significant drop in the city’s positivity rate since Thursday (21.23 percent), Karachi remains the most affected city in the country.

According to NIH data, the second most affected city in the country is Mardan, which has a COVID-19 positivity rate of 4.76 percent.

Sindh health department orders strict implementation of SOPs

Concerns about a sixth COVID-19 wave have been expressed by the Sindh health department in a letter to the Karachi and Hyderabad commissioners. The health department directed the commissioners to ensure that COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) were strictly followed in the two cities.

Mask-wearing, social distancing, checking vaccination cards, and limiting public transportation occupancy to 70% are among the SOPs.

The health department is concerned about the spread of the COVID-19 subvariants BA-5 and BA-4.