Pakistan sees 7,586 new COVID-19 cases, 20 deaths

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has registered another 7,586 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the second-highest single-day rise since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, ARY News reported on Sunday.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a total of 58,334 samples were tested, out of which 7,586 turned out to be positive at the positivity rate of 13 per cent.

With the emergence of fresh cases, the countrywide tally of cases has jumped to 1,367,605.

The deaths have also recorded a surge as 20 more patients of COVID-19 succumbed to the viral disease in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 29,097. The number of critical patients rose to 1,083.

Pakistan has conducted 24,532,952 tests so far to diagnose the deadly virus and 1,268,245 people have regained their health including 647 in the past 24 hours.

Studies are underway to find out the precise characteristics of the latest Covid-19 variant ‘BA.2’. It already accounts for the majority of most recent cases in a number of countries, including India, Denmark and Sweden. But, for French Health Minister Olivier Véran, this sub-variant’s arrival in France is not “a game changer”.

BA.2, nicknamed “Omicron’s little brother”, made its first appearance in France a few weeks ago. Mentioned for the first time by Véran during a press conference on January 20, this new Covid-19 derivative is being scrutinised by scientists.