Pakistan braces to fight 4th Covid wave, 3-fold increase in new cases

Islamabad: Pakistan is bracing to battle the fourth wave of the Coronavirus pandemic as the country saw a three-fold increase in number of people being tested positive everyday in less than three weeks.

Health experts are blaming the reopening of businesses and tou rism sector for the resurge in cases and have urged the government to ann ounce a lockdown so that Eidul Azha is celebra ted with the observance of strict health-related restrictions.

The country detected 1,980 new cases in the last 24 hours at the positivity rate of 4.09 per cent, according to the official data released on Sunday. On June 21, the tally of new cases was only 663.

It is for the first time that the positivity rate crossed 4 per cent since May 30 when 4.05 per cent was recorded, according to the Ministry of National Health Services. Positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus compared to the total number of people who have been tested.

A high value of positivity rate suggests high Coronavirus infection rate, implying greater prevalance of the disease.

The national tally of confirmed cases reached 973,284 while the death toll touched 22,582 as 27 more patients died in the last 24 hours.