COVID-19: Pakistan reports 761 new cases, 8 deaths in 24 hours

COVID-19: Pakistan reports 761 new cases, 8 deaths in 24 hours

Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): Pakistan reported 761 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday while the positivity ratio remained 3.65% during the last 24 hours.

As per data shared by the National Institute of Health (NIH), 20,843 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country during the last 24 hours.

Eight deaths were reported from the disease and 528 people recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours while 170 patients were on critical care across the country. The current positivity ratio stands at 3.65%.

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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.