Pakistan records 2,963 new COVID-19 cases, 60 deaths in last 24 hours

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 9 (ANI): Pakistan has reported 2,963 new cases of coronavirus and 60 deaths in the last 24 hours.
According to a report by ARY News, in the past 24 hours, 60 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 8,547 and 2,498 patients are in critical condition including 12 more declared critical.
Meanwhile, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) has said the coronavirus case positivity in Karachi has surged by more than 21 per cent for the second consecutive day on Tuesday.
The second highest national coronavirus positivity rate of 19.03 per cent was observed in Hyderabad as the provincial tally of infections climbed to 187,684 with 13.1 per cent positivity rate, Geo News reported.
As the country continues to report new COVID-19 cases, the health experts have viewed that the current wave is likely to be deadlier than the first wave.
"The virus has mutated itself. Earlier it was M-614. Now it is called 614-G. Its protein-based substance i.e. Aspartate has been replaced with Glycine due to which number of spikes, on the virus, has increased and it has become more transmissible and more infectious," said Prof Dr Javaid Usman, a microbiologist, told Dawn.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Secretary General Dr Qaisar Sajjad said, "Majority of people, after having symptoms, isolate themselves and they remain in isolation for 14 days. I fear that the end of December and January will be the most problematic for the masses, as a large number of people might be infected [by then]." (ANI)