Pakistan braces for another potential wave of Covid-19, as the number of cases has been rising in the country, pushing the positivity rate further up.
The country reported 406 fresh cases in a single day, the National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH) data showed Sunday morning.
The new infections were detected after 14,437 diagnostic tests taking the positivity rate to 2.81%.
As per the NIH statistics, 94 patients are undergoing treatment in intensive-care units countrywide. Two more deaths were also reported.
Former DG Health and currently Lead Strategic Adviser of CDC-USA in Pakistan Rana Muhammad Safdar said cases and positivity rates have more than doubled over the previous week, indicating rapid transmission.
He said the rise was more marked in Karachi – with 21.71% positivity, and Islamabad – with 3.45% positivity, due to better testing and reporting but the risk is likely to be widespread.
According to Safdar, the rise in number of hospitalizations and admission of patients in ICUs may become evident from the next week. However, given the high vaccination rates, the disease load is unlikely to challenge our health system capacity, he added, says a news report.
As per NIH, 85% of Pakistan’s population has been fully vaccinated.
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.
Infections are steadily rising in Sindh, with the overall rate of corona positive cases in the province reaching 7.64 per cent while that of Karachi was recorded at 21.71 per cent. Last week, health professionals cautioned against the number of positive cases that could go up if precautionary measures such as social distancing and wearing masks in public were sidestepped. They had further advised the populace to get their booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
As of Thursday, 136,422,713 jabs of the first dose of vaccines had been administered nationwide, while 125,250,104 citizens were fully vaccinated. In comparison, only 17,828,826 booster doses had been administered. The Sindh government had also declared the reinstatement of non-pharmaceutical intervention guidelines for Karachi on Friday to mitigate the “alarming” rise of Covid-19 infections in Karachi.
