ISLAMABAD: Pakistan continued to report less than 1,000 coronavirus infections for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, according to official statistics.
The South Asian nation has been grappling with an omicron-driven fifth wave of infections, but the number of virus cases has been on a decline over the past few days.
The country reported 861 new infections in the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees Pakistan’s pandemic response, said on Twitter.
The virus positivity rate has declined to 2.29 percent.
However, another 18 people lost their lives to coronavirus in the last 24 hours, official figures suggested. Currently, 988 patients are on critical care across the country.
Health authorities earlier eased COVID-19 restrictions for cities where the coronavirus positivity rate was below 10 percent.
Pakistan, which has a population of 220 million, rolled out its vaccine campaign in February 2021, prioritizing health care workers and the elderly. It has since expanded its campaign to include the entire eligible population.
Over 98 million Pakistanis were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday and over 126 million had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
