Health expert warns of lockdown in Karachi amid rising COVID-19 cases

KARACHI: Underscoring the need for increasing vaccination rate in Karachi, Jinnah Sindh Medical University Professor Shahid Rasool Thursday warned that the government might have to impose lockdown in the city as COVID-19 cases recorded a sudden spike during the past few days.

Talking exclusively to Geo News, Shahid Rasool said that the major reason behind the rising number of Omicron cases in the city was the low vaccination rate. He noted that only 40% of the eligible population is vaccinated against the virus. 

In most of the positive cases, Omicron is being confirmed, he added.

Referring to the recent spike in CVOID-19 cases in the city, the professor said that the infection ratio increased up to 8% in Karachi during this week.

He maintained that the government might go for lockdown in Karachi if the positivity ratio further increases in the metropolis. He said that lockdown is linked with infection ratio. 

Pakistan's daily COVID-19 infections cross 1,000 mark

Alarm bells are ringing as the number of daily COVID-19 infections continued to rise in Pakistan amid the fifth wave of the pandemic.

The country reported over 1,000 new cases of the virus in a single day today for the first time since October 14, data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) showed Thursday.

As per the latest statistics, 1,085 people tested positive for the virus after 46,585 COVID-19 tests were taken across the country, pushing the country’s positivity rate to 2.32%.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s positivity rate surged to 2.32% for the first time since mid-October.

On October 14, 2021, the positivity ratio stood at 2.03%.

Meanwhile, as many as five patients succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, while 636 patients are in critical condition.