LAHORE: The fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic is spreading across Pakistan, with 7,586 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, according to the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC).
This is the second-highest number of cases reported in Pakistan, with 7,678 reported two days ago being the highest. Since the start of the epidemic, Pakistan has documented 1,367,605 coronavirus cases.
According to the NCOC, 58,334 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with 7,586 of them coming back positive. As a result, the positive rate increased to 13%, indicating a substantial increase in cases.
During this time, 20 coronavirus patients died, bringing the total number of deaths to 29,097. There were 70,000 active cases across the country as of Sunday, with 1,083 of them in critical condition.
A breakdown of new cases and casualties was also provided by the NCOC. Sindh had 3,359 new cases and eight fatalities, Punjab had 1,988 new cases and five deaths, Islamabad had 1,497 new cases and one death, and KPK had 590 new cases and five deaths. There were 88 cases in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), one death, 55 cases in Balochistan, and nine cases in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).
In the meantime, 647 people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing the total number of persons who have recovered to 1.268 million.
The government is boosting up immunisation efforts while imposing new limitations as the country deals with the fifth wave.
According to the NCOC, 470,601 persons have received the coronavirus vaccination in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of citizens who have been properly vaccinated to 78,870,534. The first dosage of the vaccine was given to 286,593 citizens during this time period.
According to the forum, 102,976,552 citizens have yet to receive their first dosage of vaccination.
Because of the rising number of cases of the Omicron variant, the NCOC has established new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for mosques and other places of worship.
Only vaccinated people will be allowed inside mosques and other places of worship, according to these SOPs.
Furthermore, the government decided to enhance coronavirus testing in educational institutions, particularly in areas with a high percentage of positivity.
It opted to cap school attendance at 50% and limit indoor meetings, including indoor meals, in places with a positive rate of more than 10%.
It was also agreed that all vaccinated children above the age of 12 would be required to attend school.
