The coronavirus situation is worsening in Pakistan and at an accelerated speed.
The country reported a jump in its positivity rate for the virus, which now stands at 6.17%. The last time Pakistan crossed the 6% positivity rate mark was almost two months ago in May. On May 22, the country recorded a positivity rate of 6.43%.
The NCOC reported a total of 31 deaths due to the coronavirus on Friday morning.
According to the stats, 37,690 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, of which 2,327 people were confirmed to be infected with the virus.
The death toll from the virus has risen to 22,720 across the country, while the number of affected people has reached 983,719.
In addition to this, during the last 24 hours, 956 people recovered from COVID-19, after which the number of people recovering from the epidemic in the country has risen to 917,329, while the number of active cases in the country has risen to 43,670.
A day earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had said the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha festival will be celebrated in a “limited, closed” environment, hinting at more restrictions to curb the virus spread amid fears of a fourth wave.
The minister spoke about the spike in coronavirus cases and the measures being taken by the federal government.
When asked whether Eid-ul-Adha in Pakistan will be observed in a lockdown-type situation, the minister responded by saying that the festival should be celebrated in a “limited, closed” environment.
He spoke about the new Delta variant of the coronavirus, saying that the mutations in each new variant of the virus make it very easy to “jump from one person to another”.
“This variant is spreading at a pace of 50-60%,” he said.
On Tuesday, Federal Parliamentary Health Secretary Dr Nausheen Hamid had revealed that the Delta variant of the coronavirus — which first emerged in India — is now making up a whopping 50% of the total infections in Pakistan.
The lawmaker said the COVID-19 vaccines that Pakistan is administering are effective against the Delta variant.
Dr Hamid highlighted that no vaccine in the world is 100% effective against the Delta variant, however, if a person gets the jab, the virus will not affect their health badly.
