Pakistan reports most Covid-19 cases in two months

PAKISTAN reported more than 700 Covid-19 cases in a single day on Monday (3), its highest tally in two months, as authorities warned of a fifth wave of infections.

At least 708 cases in the past 24 hours pushed the positivity ratio to 1.55 per cent, the highest since October 24, according to data from the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC), which is overseeing the pandemic response.

“There is clear evidence now of a beginning of another Covid wave which has been expected for the last few weeks,” Asad Umar, the minister in charge of supervising anti-Covid operations, wrote on Twitter.

Genome sequencing had detected a growing number of cases of the Omicron variant, particularly in the largest city of Karachi, he said.

About 70 million people in Pakistan, or 32 per cent of the population, have had two vaccine doses.

The government authorised booster doses for citizens aged more than 30 years. Children over the age of 12 are being offered vaccinations at their schools.

"So far Pakistan has recorded 372 cases of the Omicron variant", Dr Faisal Sultan, a special assistant to the prime minister on health issues, said.

Most of those cases have been recorded in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, he said.

The provincial government of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, is working on a strategy to contain the variant, which has included a partial lockdown of a Karachi neighbourhood last week after about a dozen Omicron cases were detected in a family.

(Reuters)