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ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Tuesday announced that a total of 75 cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant have been confirmed in the country so far.
“The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC), the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and the provincial departments were vigilantly keeping an eye on Omicron cases in Pakistan,” said the NIH in a statement.
— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) December 28, 2021
The NIH noted the first case of the variant was reported on December 13 in Karachi after the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated it as a “variant of concern” on November 26.
“As of December 27, a total of 75 Omicron cases have been confirmed; 33 in Karachi, 17 in Islamabad, and 13 in Lahore,” the statement said, adding that the remaining 12 cases were associated with international travel.
The statement further stated, “The relevant authorities have isolated the patients and initiated contract tracing in order to control the spread of the variant.”
“All government approved Covid-19 vaccines available in Pakistan remain highly effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation. The government urges everyone to get both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as well as the booster dose as per the eligibility criteria and process,” the statement concluded.
Earlier in the day, the NCOC issued the latest coronavirus statistics, suggesting that the positivity rate in Pakistan remained 0.69% during the last 24 hours.
As many as 291 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed after 41,869 diagnostic tests were conducted overnight, while three patients succumbed to the virus during the same period.
Last month, Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had sounded the alarm, saying that the arrival of the Omicron variant was inevitable and a matter of time.
“This strain has to spread in the whole world as we saw before that when a variant comes, the world is so interconnected that it is impossible to stop it,” Umar had said, adding that vaccination was the most logical solution to curb the threat.
Pakistan had placed a complete ban on November 27 on travel from six south African countries — South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia — and Hong Kong in the wake of the variant’s discovery.
This travel ban was later extended to nine more countries — Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, Poland and Zimbabwe.
Additionally, the National Command and Operating Centre placed 13 countries – United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Russia, Thailand, France, Austria, Afghanistan and Turkey – in category B.
