Lahore’s coronavirus positivity ratio jumps past 18%

Signs of the third coronavirus wave dying out looked dim in Lahore as the city’s positivity ratio crossed 18% Thursday.

The provincial health department said that 7,532 tests were carried out in Lahore in last 24 hours, out of which 1,366 returned positive. The new cases makes the positivity ratio of Lahore 18.14%.

Meanwhile, Punjab as a whole recorded its highest number of single-day coronavirus cases in over nine months, as per the official tally.

On March 24, Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab detected 2,571 infections in one day, according to the official data.

This has been the highest uptick in daily cases in the province since June 12, when 2,705 people tested positive.

Of the total infections recorded, the bulk, therefore 53% were from the capital city Lahore alone on March 24.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s coronavirus positivity ratio today shot past 10% and the death toll crossed 14,000 as the country battles a third wave of the virus.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said Pakistan carried out 38,858 tests in the last 24 hours, out of which 3,946 returned positive, taking the national positivity ratio to 10.15%.

With the new cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan reached 640,988 and the active cases stand at 37,985.

A breakdown of the total cases showed that 263,815 cases have been detected in Sindh, 205,314 cases in Punjab, 81,787 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19,395 in Balochistan, 53,684 in Islamabad, 4,977 in Gilgit Baltistan and 12,016 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

In the last 24 hours, the country lost 63 people to the deadly virus, taking the nationwide death tally to 14,028.

So far, 588,975 have recovered from coronavirus after testing positive.