ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday recorded the highest single day rise in coronavirus infection numbers since July last year, reporting 3,946 new cases and 63 deaths in the past 24 hours, a government portal said.
With the latest numbers, Pakistan’s tally of coronavirus cases reached 640,988, with 14,028 deaths since the start of the outbreak last February. At the moment, 2,587patients are critically ill and the national COVID-19 positivity ratio has hit 10.15 percent, the highest this year.
Authorities had opened up almost all sectors of society in previous months but earlier this month reversed a decision to allow large indoor gatherings like cinemas, theaters and marriage halls and imposed localized lockdowns in coronavirus hotspot cities. Schools were also closed again for two weeks, from March 15. On Wednesday, the government announced that it would keep schools closed for even longer, until April 11, in several cities in the country where cases were on the rise.
“There is no doubt in this that the third wave has started and the phenomena that is driving this is the spread of the UK strain,” Pakistani planning minister Asad Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Center that oversees the nationwide coronavirus response, said in an interview to a local television channel earlier this month, adding that the Pakistani districts that saw a recent spike in positivity rates were those were a large number of people lived in the UK.
A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom last year is up to 70% more infectious than other variants and increasingly being found to be more deadly also, scientists say.
Pakistan sets single-day record for new COVID-19 cases in eight months
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Pakistan sets single-day record for new COVID-19 cases in eight months
- 3,946 new infections and 63 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, a government portal said
- 2,587patients critically ill, national COVID-19 positivity ratio hits 10.15%, the highest this year
