Pakistan sees highest daily number of COVID-19 cases since September 2021

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - In an indication of a growing fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan reported over 4,000 new infections over the past day, the highest single-day tally since September last year, the Health Ministry said.

The country registered 4,286 new infections in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of cases to over 1.13 million since March 2020.

Another four people died due to COVID-19, pushing the death toll to 29,003.

On Sept. 1 last year, Pakistan recorded a single-day tally of 4,062 infections that gradually dropped to 291 on Dec. 29, while the daily caseload has spiked again since the beginning of this month after some cities reported cases of the new omicron variant.

A bulk of the cases have been reported by the southern Sindh province, mainly Karachi, the country's largest city and the commercial capital.

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

Pakistan, a country of 210 million people, has so far administered the first dose of a COVID-19 jab to over 100 million, while over 75.68 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to official data.