Pakistan: Karachi registers 39.46 pc Covid-19 positivity rate

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 12 (ANI): Amid the ongoing surge in coronavirus infections, Karachi registered a positivity rate of 39.46 per cent on Tuesday, according to the National Institute of Health.
The coronavirus infections in the country have started to increase again amid the Eid-ul-Adha celebrations and the heavy intermittent downpours.
A total of 408 Covid-19 tests were carried out in Karachi during the last 24 hours, of which 161 were positive, Dawn newspaper reported citing NIH.
Islamabad registered a positivity rate of 7.69 per cent, which is the second-highest in the country.
The department said that Karachi reported the highest positivity rate followed by Islamabad, where the Covid-19 ratio clocked in at 7.69pc.
Meanwhile, Lahore, Hyderabad, and Peshawar have reported a positivity rate of over 2 per cent.
Pakistan recorded the highest COVID-19 positivity ratio of 5.46 per cent during a single day, which is the highest in the last five months, according to the National Institute of Health.
During the last 24 hours, 255 new cases of COVID-19 were found in the country, and one death was reported, taking the death toll to 30,424, Geo News reported.
According to the NIH, out of the total cases, 141 COVID-19 patients are critical and are being treated in intensive care units (ICU) at different medical facilities.
As many as 4,674 diagnostic tests were conducted across the country during the past 24 hours.
Pakistan is currently witnessing a new surge in COVID-19 cases and amid this, the country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also tweaked its mask mandates where now the masks are mandatory again for domestic flights with immediate effect.
Experts said that the two sub-variants of the Omicron variant, namely BA.4 and BA.5, are responsible for the spread of COVID-19.
They said that these variants have escape mutations that are giving them an edge.
Experts also said that the sub-variants have also been infecting people who are already vaccinated or have already been infected with COVD-19, but no evidence is available to show if they are causing any severe disease among the vaccinated people, Geo News reported.
Amid fears of a new wave of coronavirus, experts advocated mask-wearing indoors in cities reporting cases that constitute over 5 per cent positivity. They also stressed vigilant watch through good surveillance and testing, vaccination with emphasis on boosters and communication about rising risk, especially in urban settings. (ANI)