Hyderabad, Karachi see sharp increase in coronavirus positivity ratio in first week of March

KARACHI: Sindh's two largest cities, Hyderabad and Karachi, have seen a sharp increase in the coronavirus positivity ratio in the first week of March.

The ratio measures how many people tested for coronavirus actually had the virus (tested positive) as a percentage of total tests conducted.

As per the Sindh Health Department, Hyderabad has reported the highest positivity ratio in the province. The city's positivity ratio has shot up from 2.47% to 8.26% in the first week of the month.

Meanwhile, Karachi’s positivity ratio has increased from 3.27% to 5.66%.

Meanwhile, the positivity ratio in other districts of Sindh has risen from 1.20% to 1.80%.

The health department said that in the last 24 hours, the province-wide positivity ratio stood at an average 4.58%.

It said that on January 18, Sindh’s positivity ratio had stood at 4.78%. It added that from January 18-March 7, the positivity ratio had fallen below 4%.

Th rising positivity ratio may be a cause of concern for the government as the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) has announced the loosening of some of the coronavirus restrictions that it earlier put in place.

However, the NCOC had said last month that the decisions could be reviewed again in view of increased disease prevalence, whenever deemed necessary.