Pakistan's Covid cases cross 5,000-mark for the first time since August 2021

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan reported more than 5,000 new Covid cases during the past 24 hours after a period of nearly five and a half months.

According to the latest statistics from National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), at least 10 people lost their lives amid the fifth wave of the novel coronavirus while 5,034 fresh cases have been reported in the last 24 hours.

Pakistan's Covid positivity ratio increased to 9.45 percent as the Omicron variant continues to push infection rates. In the alarming trend, the overall death toll has now surged to 29,029 whereas the number of total infections now stood at 1,333,521.

Statistics 18 Jan 22:
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 53,253
Positive Cases: 5034
Positivity %: 9.45%
Deaths :10
Patients on Critical Care: 827

— NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) January 18, 2022

Pakistan conducted a total of 53,253 cases in the last 24 hours. The number of patients in critical care was 827. Around 1,125 patients have recovered from the virus and the total recoveries stood at 1,264,611.

As many as 505,930 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 454,372 in Punjab, 182,419 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 111,855 in Islamabad, 33,729 in Balochistan, 34,770 in Azad Kashmir, and 10,446 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Moreover, 13,091 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab so far, 7,703 in Sindh, 5,963 in KP, 969 in Islamabad, 749 in Azad Kashmir, 367 in Balochistan, and 187 in Gilgit Baltistan.

On Monday, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) deferred the decision on the closure of schools in the country amid the fifth wave of coronavirus.

Decision on schools’ closure delayed as NCOC ... 09:51 AM | 17 Jan, 2022

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A statement issued after the NCOC meeting said, “Decision about education institutions will be taken on data of positive cases of various institutions for which massive testing in educational institutions is being carried out.”