The positivity ratio of Covid-19 in Pakistan has dropped to 1.9% on June 17, the lowest level this year, as lockdown restrictions continue to take effect.

This is the first time that the positivity ratio has been recorded below 2% in 2021. As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, Pakistan witnessed a day-on-day decline in the coronavirus positivity ratio, from 3.01% on June 16 to 1.90% on June 17.

During the last 24 hours, 54,647 tests were conducted across the country out of which 1,043 came out positive. So far, 14,026,336 tests have been conducted in Pakistan out of which 946,227 have come out Covid-19 positive. Since the start of the third wave of the pandemic in March, the country has been witnessing a steady decline in the cases for the last few weeks.

Karachi, Lahore vaccination centres face Covid jab shortage

As many as 39 people died from the novel virus in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 21,913. With the recovery of 1,410 more virus patients, the number of recovered patients in the country has reached 888,505.

So far, Pakistan has vaccinated more than 12 million of its people against the novel virus. It intends to inoculate 70 million people by the end of this year. However, several vaccination centres in the country reported a shortage of Covid-19 doses this week, causing many to return unvaccinated. Due to a shortage in the vaccines, health officials only administered those coming for the second dose.

Although Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan assured that around 2 million doses were available in the country, the country has decided to import 27.5 million vaccines. These include 23 million doses of Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, 2.5 million doses of Sinovac, and two million doses of CanSinoBio.

Meanwhile, coronavirus-related deaths worldwide passed 4 million on Thursday, Reuters reported. Over 177 million have been infected globally.