COVID-19 positivity ratio rises to 3.5pc in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan continues to record a slight increase in COVID-19 cases as the country has registered 541 new infections over the last 24 hours, National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH) data showed Wednesday.

As per data, the new infections — detected after diagnostic testing on 15,462 samples — took Pakistan’s COVID-19 positivity rate to 3.50pc and total case count to over 1.53 million.

COVID-19 claimed one more life across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 30,391 the NIH said, adding that 100 people are in critical condition.

COVID-19 Statistics 29 June 2022
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 15,462
Positive Cases: 541
Positivity %: 3.50%
Deaths: 01
Patients on Critical Care: 100

— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) June 29, 2022

Maximum coronavirus test positivity ratio was recorded in Sindh at 9.10pc,  1.35 in KP and 1.31 in Punjab, while in Islamabad daily rate of coronavirus positivity was recorded at 3.03 percent and in Azad Kashmir 2.88 pct, according to health sources.

On Tuesday, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) has decided to increase Covid-19 testing in the port city to curb infections.

Taking to Twitter, NCOC said that it arranged a meeting Sindh Health Department on directions of Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel to formulate a strategy at the provincial level amid slight rise in Covid-19 cases in Karachi.

“It was discussed to increase testing, contact tracing and implementation of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs), especially mask wearing at all crowded places, and [during] domestic travel by air, railways or road,” a statement by the National Institute of Health (NIH) said.