Positivity ratio reaches 14pc in Quetta as Balochistan govt mulls curbs

QUETTA: Spokesman for Balochistan government Liaquat Shahwani on Saturday said that the positivity ratio in Quetta has reached 14.2 percent and the situation could worsen if it doubles in the upcoming month, ARY NEWS reported.

“Positivity ratio of 28 percent could worsen the COVID-19 situation,” the spokesman said while sharing the details of the restrictions planned by the provincial government with the media.

He said that so far 292 children have contacted COVID-19, however, no loss of life was reported in this regard. “The positivity ratio in educational institutes has spiked to 10 percent,” he said adding that the government was further increasing its testing capacity.

He said that Balochistan hospitals could not cope with the rising COVID-19 cases if the situation further deteriorates. “The virus cases have come down in July last year when strict restrictions came into force,” he said.

Liaquat Shahwani further said that help from Pakistan Army could be taken in order to enforce COPVID-19 SOPs as per the announcement made by Prime Minister Imran Khan a day before.

There is no let-up in Covid-19 fatalities as Pakistan recorded the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic in February last year.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, 157 people died of Covid-19 in a single day, pushing the national tally to 16,999. The last time the country recorded the highest death toll in a single day was on June 20 when 153 people died.

As many as 5,908 new infections surfaced when 52,402 samples were tested. The country’s overall positivity ratio of new cases jumped to 11.27%, according to the NCOC.