Pakistan on Tuesday recorded 4.94% COVID-19 positivity rate – highest in three months. But what does this positivity rate mean?
The positivity rate is obtained by dividing the number of people who test positive for the coronavirus with the total number of tests conducted in 24 hours. With that we can determine how many people being tested are actually positive for the virus. This is perhaps, the most important indicator of how the virus is spreading.
According to the details issued by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), 1,313 new cases were reported across the country. A total of 26,565 tests were conducted. Pakistan has reported 337,573 COVID-19 cases so far.
The country’s death toll stands at more than 6,800 as 18 people lost their lives in the past 24 hours. At least 316,060 have recovered from the virus so far.
The country’s positivity rate dropped to less than 2%, a few months ago, which was a great sign but it started increasing last month and now it is around 5%. The highest positivity rate was 23% in July and the minimum was reported at 1.7% in September.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan officially announced that the second wave of the virus has started in the country.
Meanwhile, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has tightened restrictions on some high-risk public activities to control the coronavirus spread.
NCOC has also launched a helpline to report the COVID-19 related violations by the public.
Now people can report the violation of COVID-19 SOPs like non-wearing of the mask, non-adherence to Social distancing, over-crowding at public places etc, at 0335-333-6262 (0335-333-NCOC) along with a picture and the following details: Location name, tehsil/district/city, date and time, event.
