UK virus variant spreads: Lahore among five Punjab districts declared high risk

LAHORE: Five districts in Punjab have been declared as "high risk" after the coronavirus spread in the province increased, as per Geo News.

In Lahore, the coronavirus positivity ratio has reached 12.67%, while 991 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours — the highest number of infections reported in the city in a year. As many as 94,292 people have contracted the virus in Lahore, and 2,303 patients have lost their lives to the disease.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar, amid the rise in cases, chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Coronavirus today. The meeting expressed concerns over the rapid virus spread in the province. According to sources, the meeting was informed that a new coronavirus variant from the UK was spreading in Punjab, and had infected nearly 200 people.

The chief minister said the UK virus variant was spreading alarmingly in some cities. The province's chief, in a bid to curtail its spread, said districts with more than a 5% positivity ratio would have to strictly implement COVID-19 SOPs for the next 15 days on Sundays and Saturdays.