KARACHI: Eleven members of a family, coming to Karachi from Lahore, has tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, several media outlets reported late Thursday.
The virus was detected through next-generation sequencing at the public health laboratory of DOW University of Health Sciences (DUHS). The samples were sent by the Sindh Health Department.
The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Karachi, has acquired the capability of conducting the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) with the help of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the varsity’s Provincial Public Health Laboratory (PPHL) is now the designated lab of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad.
Health experts have linked the spike in Covid-19 cases with the Omicron variant. “The spread of the Omicron variant has been faster than the Delta variant in Karachi,” said DUHS Molecular Pathologist Dr Saeed Khan. The severity of the Omicron infection can not be confirmed yet, he added.
Meanwhile, twelve cases of Omicron have been reported in Islamabad, increasing the percentage to 1% in the country. The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has put forward the interim guidelines for the booster shots and has urged people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
‘Pakistan reports over 500 fresh COVID-19 cases after two months’
Pakistan on Friday registered more than 500 new COVID-19 cases in a single day after two months, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reported.
According to the statistics provided by the coronavirus monitoring body, the coronavirus claimed six more lives in Pakistan during the last 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 28,927.
“A total of 47,856 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, out of which 515 turned out to be positive, showing an infection rate of 1.07 per cent as compared to yesterday’s 0.95 per cent,” the NCOC added. At present, 633 critical patients have been admitted to hospitals across the country, it added.
