Pakistan reports lowest Covid-19 positivity rate since March 3
Over 7m people have been vaccinated
Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity rate was 3.72% in the last 24 hours, which is reportedly the lowest since March 3.
On March 3, the country’s positivity rate was 3.75% after which it kept increasing as the country continued to battle the third wave of the deadly virus.
Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the most affected areas, according to experts. The number of cases dropped after the government increased the pace of the national vaccination drive.
In a press conference on Sunday, Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid said that last month [April], over 4,000 cases were reported in Punjab every day. The number has now dropped below 1,000. The credit goes to strict implementation of SOPs, vaccination, and a complete lockdown in the last week of Ramadan, she said.
There are just three areas where the positivity ratio is more than 5% – Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, and Khanewal. Everywhere else in the province, the infection rate has been recorded at 1.5%.
In Islamabad, the Covid-19 positivity ratio has gone down to 1.9%.
Sindh has, on the other hand, tightened its coronavirus restrictions after the number of cases post-Eid increased. A complete lockdown has been imposed after 8pm in Karachi.
Vaccination
According to NCOC head Asad Umar, so far more than seven million Pakistanis have been inoculated. The aim is to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of this year, he tweeted on Monday.
All Pakistanis above the age of 18 can now get vaccinated. They have to first send their CNICs to 1166. Walk-in vaccination for people above the age of 30 years began on Saturday.
The government has also instructed teachers above 18 years to get inoculated as soon as possible. They just have to carry their CNIC and employment certificate along with them.
Last week, Pakistan received 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. They will be used in the national vaccination drive along with Cansino, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and AstraZeneca.
According to Federal Parliamentary Secretary on Health Nausheen Hamid, locally-developed PakVac will be launched on Tuesday.
In the last 24 hours, Pakistan reported 1,771 new coronavirus cases, while 71 succumbed to the deadly virus. The daily case count has dropped below 2,000 after nearly three weeks.