Pakistan mulls lockdown in cities with high COVID-19 positivity ratio

ISLAMABAD: As the third wave of coronavirus wreaks havoc in Pakistan, the country's government is mulling to impose lockdown in the cities where the COVID-19 positivity ratio is above 10 per cent.

The country has reported new 144 fatalities due to coronavirus, raising the total death tally to 16,842 on Friday. So far, 784,108 cases have been reported in Pakistan.

According to the latest data by the National Command and Operation Centre on its official web portal, 5,870 new coronavirus cases have been recorded, Geo News reported.

At least 53,818 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, out of which 5,870 came back positive.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus positivity rate in Pakistan stood at 10.90 per cent with 84,976 active cases across the country.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan will chair a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) to take a final decision on imposing a lockdown in cities where the positivity ratio is above 10 per cent, Geo News reported.

If a full lockdown is imposed, business activities in designated cities will be suspended, while all offices will also be closed, the source said, adding that final approval for a lockdown will be given by the NCOC.

According to the official portal, the total number of coronavirus patients in Sindh has reached 275,815 while 4,576 people have died so far.

In Punjab, the total number of COVID-19 patients is 282,469 and 7,799 people have died so far due to the virus while the total number of patients in Balochistan is 21,365 and the death toll has reached 227.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded a total of 110,875 virus patients, with 3,029 deaths, while in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, 16,193 people have been infected with the virus and 455 people have died.