ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday recorded less than 500 COVID-19 cases for the first time since October 2020, official data showed.
The country has witnessed a steady decline in COVID-19 cases over the past couple of months, leading authorities to ease restrictions. The last time Pakistan reported less than 500 cases was on October 18, 2020, with 440 infections.
Pakistan has so far reported 1,273,560 infections and 28,456 deaths since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic last year. The number of active coronavirus cases has dropped to 22,545 in the country.
The COVID-19 positivity rate has also dropped to 1.18 percent in the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), which oversees the country’s pandemic response, said on Monday.
Pakistan recorded 4,82 new virus cases and six deaths in the last 24 hours, according to official figures. Over 1,300 patients were still in critical care.
Officials say the COVID-19 curve has flattened in Pakistan because of an aggressive vaccination drive by the government.
Pakistan’s Planning Minister Asad Umar, who oversees the NCOC, last week said that over 70 million people had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 40 million had been fully vaccinated in a country of 220 million people.
“We continue to make progress to vaccinate Pakistan. The year-end target for 2021 was 7 crore people vaccinated,” Umar said in a tweet on Saturday.
“Happy to report that 7 crore people have now received at least one dose and 4 crore are fully vaccinated. With two months to go, will in sha Allah (God willing) meet, and exceed, the target.”
Starting Nov 1, he said, different levels of restrictions would be applicable based on the vaccination rates. Islamabad, Mirpur, Gilgit and Mandi Bahauddin were among cities and regions with highest vaccination rate, hence faced the least restrictions.
“The faster vaccinations are carried out in any district, the quicker restrictions can be relaxed,” the minister said.
“Demand from your provincial/district administration to accelerate vaccination, so life could return to normalcy as soon as possible.”
