COVID positivity ratio nears 40pc in Karachi

KARACHI: The COVID positivity ratio on Sunday jumped near to 40 percent in Karachi, a day after the provincial government decided against imposing lockdown and instead asked citizens to adopt precautionary measures and wear facemasks in light of Omicron variant.

According to the figures shared by the Sindh health department, as many as 2424 cases of COVID-19 were reported from Karachi, bringing the positivity ratio to 39.39 percent.

“Sindh province reported 2622 cases in a day and of which 2424 were reported only from Karachi,” it said adding that one person has died of COVID during the last 24 hours.

The department further shared that 229 COVID patients are critically ill while 18 people are currently on ventilators.

“A total of 460 cases of Omicron variant have been confirmed in Karachi after genome-sequencing,” it said and 56 more samples are currently being analyzed for the new variant.

The Sindh government’s task force on Covid-19 announced Saturday a set of restrictions to control the fifth wave of the pandemic.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah presided over a meeting of the Sindh Task Force to take stock of the current Covid-19 situation. The meeting decided to keep all educational institutions in the province open.

Government employees flouting the SOPs, including the mask-wearing rule, will have to pay a fine to be deducted from their salary, the task force said. It further decided to conduct a survey of all hospitals, including private and public health facilities, to assess their capacity.

CM Murad sought data on beds vacant and occupied at these facilities. He said mask-wearing has been made compulsory at all public places, including wedding halls, markets and shopping.

The task force said only vaccinated people will be allowed in markets with their administration required to check vaccination cards of citizens. It called for food to be served in boxes at weddings.