In the last 24 hours alone, a total of 818 new cases of Covid were reported in the country, as per the National Institute of Health (NIH). Just a day before, the total was 694, making it the highest number of cases since March, which saw 953 cases.
The big jump in cases also affected the national positivity rate, raising it from 3.93% to 4.47%. According to statistics from the NIH, 18,305 tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, 126 patients were in critical care, and 4 patients had died from Covid.
https://twitter.com/NIH_Pakistan/status/1543047403820965888
While the national positivity rate is still relatively low, the rate is in the double digits in Karachi, at 17.06%. Out of the 3,095 tests conducted in Karachi in the last 24 hours, 582 were positive.
The next highest positivity rates were of Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Muzaffarabad and Lahore, which stood at 6.45% and 5.58%, respectively. This was followed by Islamabad, where the positivity rate was recorded at 4.05%, while in Peshawar it was 2.47%.
Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel in a statement over Twitter, called for the strict implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as wearing masks and observing social distancing again. He cautioned that the chance for the virus to resurge was high as the Eid-ul-Azha festival was approaching.
https://twitter.com/nhsrcofficial/status/1542778326309343233
He also encouraged people to get booster shots and to get vaccinated if they aren't already, and appealed to religious leaders to promote social distancing in mosques as well.