ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported 708 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, marking the first time daily infections have crossed 700 since October 30, 2021 as the government announced that an omicron-driven fifth wave of the virus was spreading at “great pace.”
Pakistani planning minister Asad Umar, who also heads the federal pandemic response body, the NCOC, said on Sunday there was “clear evidence” of the beginning of a new wave of the coronavirus in the country, with genome sequencing showing rising cases of the omicron variant.
A year ago, the newly available vaccine offered hope that the COVID-19 pandemic may be under control by the start of 2022. Instead, the sudden arrival of omicron has brought a surge in coronavirus cases across the globe.
The NCOC Twitter handle reported 708 new cases in the last 24 hours and a positivity rate of 1.55 percent.
“It is revealed that the fifth wave of Covid which is omicron driven, is spreading at a great pace,” the NCOC said in a statement. “During last three days the positivity ratio in Karachi has reached from 2 percent to 6 percent with maximum number of positive cases.”
Worldwide infections hit a record high over the last week or so, with an average of just over a million cases detected a day between December 24 and 30, up some 100,000 on the previous peak posted on Wednesday, according to Reuters data. Deaths, however, have not risen in kind, bringing hope the new variant is less lethal.
“Clear evidence now of a beginning of another covid wave which has been expected for last few weeks,” Umar said on Twitter. “Genome sequencing showing rising proportion of omicron cases particularly in Karachi.”
The Pakistan Medical Association last week warned that a fifth wave of the coronavirus could hit the country by the end of January as new cases of the fast-spreading omicron variant were reported in different cities across the nation.
The strain was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November, with the first known case in Pakistan identified last month in a woman who had no travel history outside the country.
