Pakistan sets new record for daily Covid cases – imposes indoor dining ban in some areas

Vaccination of children over the age of 12 has been made mandatory to attend the schools

Pakistan reported on Friday over 7,000 Covid cases in a single day, its highest daily number of infections since the pandemic began, Qazet.az reports citing The Guardian.

At least 7,678 cases in the past 24 hours pushed the positivity ratio to 12.93%, the highest ever in the last two years. 23 deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours, according to data from the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC), which is overseeing the pandemic response.

“Amid rising trend of disease across the country a ban on indoor dinning in cities/districts with positivity above 10% has been imposed with effect from 21 January,” said a notification issued by NCOC.

Syed Raza Hassan reports for Reuters from Karachi that the government authorised booster vaccination shots for citizens over the age of 30. Vaccination of children over the age of 12 has been made mandatory to attend the schools and children under 12 will attend schools with 50% attendance.

“We might see a peak after two weeks followed by a gradual decline,” Faisal Mahmood associate professor of infections diseases at Aga Khan University Hospital told Geo television channel on Friday morning.

He said the number of hospitalisations are rising, citing the on-going wedding season for the rapid spread of the virus. About 70 million people in Pakistan, or 32% of the population, have had two vaccine doses.