Pakistan’s COVID-19 positivity ratio alarmingly spiking

• COVID-19 positivity ratio in the country has hit a creeping 4.5-month high at 3.93% in the last 24 hours
• This is the highest positivity ratio since February 20,

ISLAMABAD: The COVID-19 positivity ratio in the country has hit a creeping 4.5-month high at 3.93% in the last 24 hours, National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH) said on Friday morning.

This is the highest positivity ratio since February 20, when it was recorded at 3.29% with 33 deaths and 1,644 positive cases. According to the latest data from NIH, during the last 24 hours, 694 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in the country after diagnostic testing on 17,640 samples.

As per NIH statistics, currently, 101 COVID-19 patients are being treated in different medical facilities across the country.

Read more: Govt announces reactivation of NCOC after Covid-19 surge

However, fortunately, no death was reported during the last 24 hours across the country due to the virus.

Earlier this week, amid the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, the federal government on Wednesday announced to fully activate the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) again after the surge in Covid-19 cases, reported Bol News. Sources in the know informed Bol that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting regarding the rise in the Covid-19 cases across Pakistan and announced to revive Pakistan’s coronavirus response center.

During the meeting, the premier expressed concerns over the rapidly rising infectious cases in the country and ordered strict implementation of protective measures and SOPs. Earlier, NCOC ceased functioning on March 31 when the country indicators for Covid-19 were all-time low with a high vaccination rate.

It is pertinent to mention here that in the last 24 hours the country witnessed over 500 cases for the first time in three months which has pushed the positivity ratio to 3.5%. NIH reported that 15,462 samples were tested for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours and one death was reported across the country.