Pakistan logs over 400 COVID-19 cases, two deaths in 24 hours

KARACHI: Alarm bells are ringing as the country continues to see an uptick in fresh COVID-19 cases, with experts saying Pakistan may suffer another wave of the deadly pandemic.

According to the latest statistics issued by the National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH), the country reported 406 fresh cases of coronavirus in a single day.

The new infections were detected after 14,437 diagnostic tests were conducted across the county over the past 24 hours, taking the positivity rate to 2.81%. Meanwhile, two more patients succumbed to the virus during the same period.

As per the NIH stats, the condition of 94 more patients with the virus is critical.

Rapid transmission

Cases and positivity rates have more than doubled over the previous week, indicating rapid transmission. The rise is more marked in Karachi — with 21.71% COVID-19 positivity, and Islamabad — with 3.45% positivity, due to better testing and reporting but the risk is likely to be widespread. The rise in number of hospitalisations and admission of patients in ICUs may become evident starting next week.

Among the provinces, Sindh is the most affected while Mardan and Hyderabad are the most affected cities after Karachi, with 8.77% and 8.51% COVID-19 positivity, respectively.

Health experts stress on:

• Vigilantly watching through good surveillance and testing.
• Communication around rising risk especially in urban settings.
• Advocating mask-wearing indoors in cities reporting cases that constitute over 5% positivity.
• Vaccination with emphasis on boosters.

As per NIH, 85% of Pakistan's population has been fully vaccinated.

City-wise COVID-19 situation :