ISLAMABAD: As the world sees a surge in Covid-19 cases, Pakistan has been reporting the lowest positivity rates since the country started measuring the infection ratio in April last year.

On the other hand, 13 patients lost their lives to the virus and 516 new cases surfaced in a single day.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), announced the development on social media.

“Alhamdulillah we now have lowest positivity ratio since we started measuring Covid-19. Also have lowest patients on critical care and lowest daily mortality in a year. Positive impact of vaccination showing but vaccination drive must continue. Globally 7,500 died of Covid-19 yesterday,” the minister tweeted.

According to the NCOC data, the national positivity rate stood at 1.34pc, with 1,445 patients under critical care.

It further revealed that 102,067,945 vaccines had been administered across the country out of which 69,341,110 people were recipients of at least one dose and 39,303,110 were fully immunised.

Talking to Dawn, Member Scientific Task Force on Covid-19 Dr Javed Akram said though it was a positive development, it needed to be understood that a large number of patients were getting tested for dengue instead of Covid-19.

“The positivity ratio cannot be a true reflection of the population-based survey as it depends on the sample size,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that at present, four diseases — Covid-19, dengue fever, malaria and typhoid — show similar symptoms due to which a number of Covid-19 patients were getting tested for dengue and other diseases or taking curative measures against them.

Dr Akram, who is also the vice chancellor of the University of Health Sciences, said the Covid-19 situation was deteriorating in other countries, including the United Kingdom, where people had received three doses of the vaccine.

“I suggest people should strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures, get vaccinated and cooperate during the door-to-door vaccination campaign so that the country is not hit by another surge in cases,” he said.

The numbers of global weekly cases and casualties had increased during the past week, with over 2.9 million new patients and over 49,000 deaths being reported, which was a 4pc and 5pc increase, respectively, a statement issued by the World Health Organisation said.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2021