- Sindh Province under the spotlight
ISLAMABAD: As the spread of Covid-19 Omicron variant picked up pace in Pakistan, so did the number of everyday cases as the country recorded nearly 1,100 infections during the last 24 hours.
However, Pakistan government has no intentions of imposing a coronavirus lockdown for now. National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar Thursday said that despite the country recording a rapid surge in infections over the last two weeks.
“For now, we are closely monitoring the numbers from Pakistan and across the globe; we are emphasising on vaccinations,” the federal minister for planning, development, and special initiatives told Geo News.
He highlighted that instead of lockdowns, the government is focusing on ramping up vaccinations and strict implementation of the bans placed earlier on certain activities if one is not vaccinated.
1085 new infections, five deaths in past 24 hours
According to the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday morning, there were 1,085 new infections and five deaths in the country during the last 24 hours.
The latest figures released by the NCOC suggested that after the addition of five new deaths, the overall toll has now surged to 28,955 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,299,848 after adding the fresh 1,085 cases.
During the last 24 hours (Wednesday), 46,585 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 2.32 percent. The number of patients in critical care was 636.
During the last 24 hours (Wednesday), as many as 247 patients have recovered from the virus whereas the total recoveries stood at 1,257,847. As of Thursday, the total count of active cases in the country was recorded at 13,046.
As many as 484,226 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 446,300 in Punjab, 181,573 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108,984 in Islamabad, 33,654 in Balochistan, 34,682 in Azad Kashmir and 10,429 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Moreover, 13,076 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,676 in Sindh, 5,938 in KP, 967 in Islamabad, 746 in Azad Kashmir, 366 in Balochistan and 186 in Gilgit Baltistan.
Sindh Province remains under the spotlight
Sindh Province is the focus as 268 fresh cases of local transmission of omicron variant of Covid-19 have been detected so far.
Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah Thursday confirmed the fact, saying that most of them were coming through the local transmission of the virus.
Sharing details of the COVID-19 situation in the province, the CM Sindh said that so far 268 cases of Omicron have been confirmed while 95 cases have been reported from December 28 to January 02.
“These 95 cases have been detected after 133 samples were sent for genome-sequencing, showing the presence of new cases of the variant in the province,” he said.
The chief minister while confirming the local transmission of the new variant said that some cases have been found in people having a travel history while most of them were locally transmitted.
The masses should adopt strict precautionary measures to avoid contracting the Omicron variant, he said.
Sindh minister fears thousands omicron cases in month or two
Sindh Health Minister has pointed out an upsurge in coronavirus cases in the province.
“It seems the cases are on upward trajectory and thousands cases of Omicron strain of the virus, can be reported in a month or two,” health minister Azra Pechuho talking to media here said.
“We can opt for lock down if the hospitals will fill to the capacity with patients,” the minister said. ” No lock down has been under consideration now. Probably a small lock down required,” the minister further said.
“In Sindh over 170 Omicron cases have been surfaced. In last 24 hours over 500 cases of the disease have emerged,” the minister said.
Provincial minister stressed for compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOPs), adding that the cases will further spread if the people will avoid to get vaccine shots.
“Those fully vaccinated, should get a booster shot of the vaccine, after six months of the second dose,” Pechuho advised.
The experts in the country have urged for vaccination to curb the infections and avoid serious disease.
The positivity ratio of COVID-19 cases in Karachi has reached beyond nine percent, the provincial health department said on Thursday amid concerns over rising cases of Omicron variant.
