ISLAMABAD: With the steady increase in Covid-19 cases in Pakistan during the past 9 days, the positivity rate has jumped to 5.36 percent as the country recorded 2,258 Covid-19 cases during past 24 hours after Jan 29 when 2,186 cases were detected.

According to National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), countrywide 53 Covid-19 people died of Covid-19. According to the NCOC portal, the number of deaths from Covid-19 in the country has reached 13,377, while total number of cases has climbed to 597,497 since the pandemic outbreak in Feb 2020.

According to statistics shared by the government, about 42,164 Covid-19 tests were conducted across the country in last 24 hours, of which 2,258 tested positive which translates into 5.36 positivity rate.

At present the number of active cases across the country stands at 17,627. Besides, 1,276 patients have recovered from the virus across the country during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 566,492.

During the past 24 hours, Punjab reported most cases – 1,290, followed by Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with 350, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 289, Sindh 256, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 57 and Balochistan 16 cases while no case was reported in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Till now, 260,406 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 180,944 in Punjab 74,722 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 46,579 in Islamabad, 19,157 in Balochistan, 10,730 in Azad Kashmir and 4,959 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore 5,662 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 4,448 in Sindh, 2,129 in KP, 516 in Islamabad, 316 in Azad Kashmir, 202 in Balochistan and 104 in GB.

Pakistan has so far conducted 9,360,202 coronavirus tests and 42,164 in the last 24 hours. 566,493 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 1,688 patients are in critical condition.

According to NCOC with 39 percent ventilators occupancy rates Lahore is on top, followed by ICT with 37 percent, Peshawar with 24 percent and Multan with 21 percent.

Moreover, Gujrat with 94 percent oxygen beds occupancy is on top, followed by Peshawar 39 percent, ICT with 36 percent and Lahore with 29 percent.

The alarming surge in Covid-19 cases was reported after the government decided to relax some coronavirus restrictions last month across the country.

Authorities had taken the decision after carefully reviewing existing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) or measures to treat Covid-19 other than medical treatment.

However, due to fears of a third wave of coronavirus, the government on the other day, decided to put most of the restrictions back in place after a NCOC meeting.

Punjab has reported 1,290 coronavirus cases and 33 deaths during the past 24 hours. The total cases in the province have risen to 180,944 and the death toll is 5,662. This is the second straight day the province has reported more than 1,000 coronavirus cases. A day earlier, Punjab recorded 1,006 cases and 29 deaths.

According to the Punjab health department's data, 741 of the 1,290 cases (57.4 percent) were reported in Lahore. Rawalpindi and Faisalabad – both reported 81 cases each, followed by 58 in Gujrat.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021