Pakistan logs over 7,000 COVID-19 cases for second straight day as Omicron pushes infections

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan logged over 7,000 fresh COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day as the Omicron variant pushes infections across the country amid the fifth wave of the pandemic, data from National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) showed Monday morning.

As per the NCOC’s latest stats, 7,195 coronavirus cases were reported during the last 24 hours, after 57,401 tests were conducted across the country, with the positivity ratio reaching 12.53%.

Following the detection of new cases, the overall cases reached 1.37 million, while eight more deaths from coronavirus, pushing the death toll to 29,105, the statistics showed.

In addition to this, as many as 1,113 patients are on critical care, while 833 more people have recuperated from the pandemic in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 1.269 million, the official figures showed. Meanwhile, the active cases stand at 76,617.

Last week, the NCOC revised protocols for mosques amid the rising number of coronavirus cases, with only allowing fully vaccinated people to enter the places of worship.

The body leading Pakistan's COVID-19 response also announced last Friday that all schools with a high COVID-19 positivity ratio would remain closed for one week across the country.