-Positivity rate goes up again, recorded at 7.8%
-Death toll in Pakistan in July was higher than the rest of the world
-Maryam Nawaz tests positive for COVID
DM Monitoring
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s daily COVID-19 case count crossed 4,000 for the first time in two months Wednesday morning after the National Command and Operation Centre reported 4,119 fresh infections.
The country last recorded more than 4,000 cases in a single day on May 22.According to the NCOC’s latest stats, 52,291 coronavirus tests were taken in the last 24 hours across the country. Of these, 4,119 came back positive. Another 44 people, meanwhile, lost their lives to the virus in the last 24 hours, pushing the national death tally to 23,133. The positivity rate, too, went up again. The current rate is 7.8%
The total number of cases has reached 1,015,827. In addition to this, 7,020 patients have recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 935,742 while the number of active cases is 56,952.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Pakistan’s coronavirus death rate in July surpassed the global death rate figures, according to officials from the health ministry.
The death rate in July was between 2.30% and 2.37% in Pakistan, according to data shared by the World Health Organisation. The worldwide death rate in July was between 2.15% to 2.17%. Health experts says non-compliance with standard operating procedures and no vaccination can increase death rates.
Meanwhile, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has tested positive for the coronavirus, the party’s Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Wednesday. She has quarantined herself after the test result, Aurangzeb said. The information secretary also asked people to pray for the early recovery of Covid-19 patients, including Maryam.
Meanwhile, Maryam, while responding to a tweet, said that she had flu, cough and fever and was being treated at home. “Overwhelmed by outpouring of prayers & good wishes,” she said.
Maryam had recently led the party’s election campaign for the July 25 polls in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
PML-N President and Maryam’s uncle, Shehbaz Sharif, said he was saddened to hear about her testing positive. He prayed for her recovery from the virus, as well as the recovery of other people who had tested positive. The fourth wave of Covid-19 is intensifying in the country as Pakistan reported 4,119 coronavirus infections during the last 24 hours, the first time the daily caseload went above 4,000 since May 21.
The more transmissible Delta variant is believed to be responsible for the country’s fourth wave. The variant, scientists say, has features that allow it to evade some of the body’s immune system defences. Plus, it has the highest transmissibility of any variant so far.
At the start of July, Prime Minister Imran Khan had issued a clear warning of a looming fourth wave, terming the Delta variant “the biggest concern”. The concerns were also echoed by Asad Umar, who said that there were clear signs of a fourth Covid-19 wave starting in Pakistan.
Despite the warnings, cases have been steadily rising over the past month. On July 15, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faial Sultan had said that local transmission of Delta variant had started in Pakistan.
A number of politicians and government officials have been infected by Covid-19 since the pandemic first emerged in the country in February 2020, including President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and have since recovered.
