COVID positivity reaches 20pc in Karachi amid Omicron concern

KARACHI: The COVID positivity ratio in Karachi is witnessing an alarming upward trend after it crossed 20 percent today amid concerns regarding Omicron variant, ARY NEWS reported.

According to the provincial health ministry, as many as 1,223 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the city after tests were performed on 6,048 samples.

“The ratio of Omicron variant being reported in Karachi has reached 95 percent,” they said.

Meanwhile, the Covid positivity ratio in Lahore has also seen a surge after Wednesday’s data showed that the positivity ratio in Punjab’s provincial capital has reached above seven percent. Islamabad and Rawalpindi have reported a positivity of four percent each.

Pakistan’s COVID tally

The fifth wave of the novel coronavirus is intensifying with every passing day as Pakistan reported 2,074 fresh cases of the pandemic during the past 24 hours.

According to the latest figures shared by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a total of 44,120 samples were tested during this period, out of which 2,074 turned out to be positive, showing a national positivity rate of 4.7 per cent as compared to yesterday’s 3.33%.

The death toll from the pandemic climbed to 28,987 after 13 more patients succumbed to the viral disease in the past 24 hours.

The number of coronavirus patients in critical care in various hospitals across the country has seen a minor surge and currently stands at 628.