Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): Pakistan reported 806 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday while the positivity ratio remained 3.85% during the last 24 hours.
As per data shared by the National Institute of Health (NIH), 20,949 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country during the last 24 hours.
Nine deaths were reported from the disease in the last 24 hours while 160 patients were on critical care across the country. The current positivity ratio stands at 3.85%.
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Meanwhile, the NIH has asked people to adhere to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the government to prevent spread of COVID-19 during Muharram procession.
It is pertinent to mention that BA5, part of the Omicron family, is to cause widespread waves of infection globally.
The variant is not new as first identified in January, BA5 has been tracked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since April.
It is a sister variant of the Omicron strain that has been dominant worldwide since the end of 2021 and has already caused spikes in case rates, even with reduced testing, in countries including South Africa, where it was first found, as well as the United Kingdom (UK), parts of Europe, and Australia.
