Pakistan clocks highest single-day spike in cases since pandemic began

ISLAMABAD: Omicron variant is contributing to a rapid rise in cases during the fifth wave as the country has reported more than 8,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day, its highest daily number of infections in two years.

At least 8183 cases in the past 24 hours pushed the positivity ratio to 11.92 per cent while 30 deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 29,192 according to data issued by the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC), which is overseeing the pandemic response on Friday.

Statistics 28 Jan 22:
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 68,624
Positive Cases: 8183
Positivity %: 11.92%
Deaths :30
Patients on Critical Care: 1353

— NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) January 28, 2022

During the period, 1,786 patients recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total recoveries to 1,274,657, said the NCOC, adding that 1,353 are in critical condition.

The Sindh province is the worst-affected region by the pandemic with 535,965 infections, followed by the Punjab province which has reported 471,925 cases.

It was believed that the spread of the pandemic in the country was almost contained, but after the emergence of Omicron, the number of cases has been increasing rapidly since late December, which has been declared the fifth wave of the pandemic.

Viewing the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, NCOC has made wearing face masks mandatory at mosques, markets and other public places.

The NCOC, the principal body implementing the national Covid-19 efforts, said that a distance of six feet must be maintained at mosques and carpets must not be used.

Read more: NCOC directs provinces to close schools with high covid positivity rate

It directed children and elders to offer prayers at home. While only vaccinated people would be allowed to enter mosques.

The NCOC said that hand sanitisers should be used and doors and windows should be kept open at mosques. It also asked worshippers to hold Friday congregations with fewer people.

Earlier, the NCOC had decided to close educational institutions with a high positivity rate of Omicron virus, a new Covid-19 variant.

According to a statement by the NCOC, Covid testing at educational institutes was carried out in major Omicron-hit cities to ascertain disease spread among students and ensure accurate disease mapping.

Data suggested a strong correlation between vaccination levels and infection rates in various cities. It had therefore been decided that aggressive testing would be conducted at educational institutes for the next two weeks especially in high disease prevalence cities and the institutes with high positivity rates would be closed for one week.

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It asked the federating units to carry out special vaccination drives in schools to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of students over 12 years of age.