Pakistan’s COVID-19 positivity ratio at 6.3%

ISLAMABAD: The number of new cases of COVID-19 continued to rise this week, as the positivity ratio hit 6.3% on Thursday amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, data issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) revealed.

The NCOC – the nerve centre of the government’s unified effort to contain the spread of the contagion – confirmed the upward trend after an unprecedented fall earlier in the June when the number of new cases was reduced to around 1,000.

The deadly disease has claimed 40 more lives across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 22,928. As many as 2,158 new infections were reported as the country’s caseload climbed to 998,609.

A total of 2,525 patients are in critical care at hospitals across the country, the NCOC said, adding 895 people recuperated from the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the number of people who have recovered since the pandemic began to 922,929.

Sindh remains top most affected province with 361,160 cases followed by Punjab with 351,592 COVID-19 cases. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 141,288 cases, Islamabad, 85,179, Balochistan 29,301 cases while Gilgilt Baltistan has reported 7,551 COVID-19 cases and AJK registered 22,538 cases.

Earlier, a sharp spike in coronavirus infections has overwhelmed major hospitals in the metropolis. The positivity ratio soared past 20 percent in less than a week and the city’s hospitals are struggling to accommodate patients.

Covid-19 wards at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the Sindh Infectious Disease Hospital and Research Centre (SIDHRC), Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, the Indus Hospital, Lyari General Hospital and other health facilities, including the isolation ward at Expo Centre, have reached their capacity. Some have initiated efforts to make extra arrangements for new patients.