Omicron spreading fast in Punjab as 365 cases reported

LAHORE: Punjab province especially its capital, Lahore, has witnessed an alarming surge in the Omicron variant of COVID-19 after the tally jumped to 365 on Wednesday, ARY NEWS reported.

According to the provincial health department, the province has so far reported 365 cases of Omicron of which 364 are reported in Lahore.

“As many as 18 more cases of the variant were reported during the last 24 hours in Lahore,” the department said and added that Sahiwal reported five while three cases of the new variant, having an origin from South Africa, were reported from Okara.

The health department said that containment of the new variant in Lahore has become a challenging task for the health authorities as the positivity ratio has gone beyond six percent in the provincial capital today.

According to the secretary primary health secondary healthcare Punjab, Imran Sikandar Baloch, two people succumbed to the deadly virus over the past 24 hours, while the number of active COVID-19 cases in Punjab currently stands at 6,152.

As many as 18,966 tests were conducted out of which 445 remained positive for the coronavirus. Baloch said over 14 million of Punjab’s total population has been vaccinated against the COVID-19, while in the second phase, more than 26 million people will receive the vaccine jabs.