Pakistan records highest daily COVID-19 cases since August

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan on Wednesday reported almost 5,500 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day tally since August last year.

The country registered 5,472 new infections with a 9.5% positivity rate in the last 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data. The total number of cases rose to nearly 1.14 million since March 2020.

Another eight people died due to COVID-19, pushing the death toll to 29,037.

On Aug. 4 last year, the South Asian country logged 5,661 infections in a single day, which gradually dropped to 291 on Dec. 29. The daily caseload, however, has spiked again since the beginning of this month after some cities reported cases of the new omicron variant.

The country is currently battling a fifth wave of COVID-19, along with the rising omicron cases across the country.

The southern Sindh province, mainly Karachi, the country's largest city and the commercial capital, is the worst-hit, reporting around 60% of the total new infections.

The government, however, has no plans to reimpose coronavirus restrictions as hospitals have not reported a serious burden.

A few schools in the capital Islamabad have been shut after the virus was found among students, local broadcaster Dunya News reported.

Pakistan, a country of 210 million people, has so far administered the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to over 100 million, while over 76 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to official data.