Ag APP
ISLAMABAD: The corona positivity ratio in the Punjab has come down by a large margin, according to a report released by the Punjab Health Department on Sunday.
The positivity rate has come down to 3.13% in Punjab overall, whereas, in Lahore, the rate has reduced to 2.42%, reports Geo News.
In the 24 hours, 29,121 coronavirus tests were conducted in Lahore out of which 914 tested positive.
As per the report, about 55 patients are undergoing treatment in the extensive care units of various hospitals throughout the province.
At least 29 people have lost their lives to the virus over the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid held a press conference on the current coronavirus situation of the province.
"Strict implementation of SOPs led to reduction in coronavirus tests. As of today, 901 cases emerged across the province. For the first time, less than a thousand cases have been reported across the province," she noted.
She said eight more vaccination centres will be set up across the province next week.
She further said about 2.8 million people in Punjab had been vaccinated against the coronavirus, requesting people to get the vaccine jab as soon as possible.
"NCOC targets Punjab for 140,000 more vaccinations in May," she added.
Highlighting that wearing a mask could save up to 72% chances of virus transmission, the minister urged the citizens to strictly observe the COVID-19 protocols.
The minister lashed out at former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, saying that she had undergone treatment in various hospitals throughout Pakistan for her ailment but had not abandoned the country.
Rashid urged the PML-N president to seek treatment in Pakistan rather than going abroad for it.
Meanwhile, the Sindh government Sunday tightened curbs once more in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases. It also asked the citizens to heed its warning regarding the spread of COVID-19 and strictly follow the safety precautions.
According to the Home Department, a meeting of the provincial task force on coronavirus was held on Sunday in which a rise in positivity was observed throughout the province, especially in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur.
"The task force discussed various ways and means to contain the disease. It was reiterated that compliance of the SOPs (standard operating procedures) continued to remain a corner stone measure for control of disease spread," said the statement.
APP adds: Meanwhile, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Sunday in its special session reviewed implementation strategy of NPIs (non-pharmaceutical interventions) enforcement focusing on opening up of tourism sector from Monday (May24) and urged the masses to resort to "Safe Tourism" policy.
The NCOC special session was chaired by the National Coordinator Lieutenant General Hamood uz Zaman Khan here.
The forum urged the public to resort to strictly adhere to the health guidelines and safety protocols.
The forum was briefed that a comprehensive monitoring mechanism had been devised to ensure that standard operating procedures (SOPs) were being implemented in letter and spirit.
The forum also reviewed the inbound travel policy where it was informed that the Category C list of the countries, having mutated version or variant of Covid-19 prevailing with more lethal and contagious form of the disease, had been revised with addition of certain other countries which would be implemented from 26th May.
The forum was informed that stringent SOPs for verification of disease status of inbound passengers was in place.
However, the forum decided that in view of increasing positive cases being reported in passengers from the UAE and Bahrain, PCR results from only authorised labs would be accepted to ensure credibility of Covid-19 test.
Meanwhile, the national tally of active COVID-19 cases was Sunday recorded 62,620 with 3,084 more people testing positive and 3,826 recovering during the 24 hours.
Seventy-four corona patients died during the 24 hours out of which 67 were under treatment in hospital and seven out of the hospital, according to NCOC.
Out of the total 74 deaths, 34 died on the ventilator. There were 4,392 infected patients under treatment in critical care in various COVID dedicated healthcare facilities in the 24 hours.
The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Lahore 47 percent, Multan 67 percent, Bahawalpur 40 percent and Peshawar 34 percent.
Around 536 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country, while no affected person was on the ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan.
Some 62,061 tests were conducted across the country on Saturday, including 19,149 in Sindh, 29,121 in Punjab, 7,754 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 3,176 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,480 in Balochistan, 428 in GB, and 953 in AJK.
Around 817,681 people have recovered so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio.
Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 900,552 cases have been detected including the perished, the recovered and those under treatment including AJK 18,739, Balochistan 24,517, GB 5,482, ICT 80,312, KP 129,413, Punjab 333,971 and Sindh 308,118. About 20,251 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion.
Around 4,909 have perished in Sindh, 9,768 in Punjab, 3,924 in KP, 745 in ICT, 270 in Balochistan, 107 in GB and 528 in AJK.
A total of 12,779,296 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 639 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities.