Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 1,294,379 on Wednesday after 348 new cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall 481,096 cases were confirmed in Sindh, 444,752 in Punjab, 181,285 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 33,626 in Balochistan, 108,534 in Islamabad, 10,429 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 34,657 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, 39,739 tests were conducted in last 24 hours while positivity ratio remained 0.87%.
According to the government's COVID-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached to 28,918 with 6 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 1,255,396 after another 192 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Health Services has warned of a fifth wave of novel coronavirus as the country is facing the arrival of a more contagious omicron variant.
As per the reports, Pakistan is likely to hit with the fifth wave of the deadly disease in the mid of February 2022 as community transmission of Omicron variant has started.
With the detection of Omicron cases in all major cities, officials are expected daily detection of around 3,000-4,000 cases per day especially in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad where so far 75 people were found infected with the new variant.
Moreover, the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Tuesday confirmed that so far 75 cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Pakistan, including 33 in Karachi where the first case was reported on December 13 while 17 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported from Islamabad and 13 in Lahore.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 5431.629 million and death toll tops 5,423,520.
