Pakistan sees spike in Covid-19 cases as Omicron looms

ISLAMABAD: As the threat of new Covid strain ‘Omicron’ spreading to Pakistan looms large, the country recorded a spike in new cases of the pandemic in the last 24 hours.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, a total of 42,577 samples were tested, out of which 475 turned out to be positive, taking the country’s caseload to 1,284,840.

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The positivity rate rose to 1.1 per cent from 0.59 per cent recorded the previous day.

The death toll jumped to 28,728 after ten more people succumbed to the viral disease in the past 24 hours. The number of Covid-19 patients in critical care in various hospitals across the country has come down to 905.

Statistics 30 Nov 21:
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 42,577
Positive Cases: 475
Positivity %: 1.1%
Deaths : 10
Patients on Critical Care: 905

— NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) November 30, 2021

On Monday, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) decided to ramp up Covid-19 tests in the high-risk areas of the country amidst fears of the spread of Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad along with SAPM Dr Faisal Sultan, NCOC chief Asad Umar said that the South African variant is the most dangerous as compared to earlier ones.

He apprehended that the new variant of the coronavirus will come to Pakistan.