• Talks under way with China, Russia for vaccine • Covid claims 75 more lives

ISLAMABAD: The number of new Covid-19 cases in the country was recorded at 3,795 on Monday after a gap of over five months as the national positivity ratio reached almost 10 per cent.

This figure is the highest single day rise in coronavirus infections since July 2 when 4,087 people contracted the virus.

According to the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the highest positivity ratio was observed in Karachi at 21.31pc, followed by Abbottabad at 17.86pc and Peshawar, 16.66pc.

As many as 75 patients succumbed to the virus while the number of active cases, which was less than 6,000 in September, reached 55,316. Of the 75 deaths across the country, 22 patients died in Punjab, six in Rawalpindi-Islamabad, 41 in Sindh and six in Khyber Pakhtun­khwa in the past 24 hours. No death was reported from Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The NCOC data further said 353 ventilators out of 1,749 reserved for Covid-19 patients were in use. However, there was no patient on vent in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The meeting was informed that movement of 1.51 million people had been restricted by imposing 4,503 smart lockdowns.

Testing had remained over 40,000 per day for the last two weeks with 81pc positive cases being reported from major urban centres.

The forum was further told that various administrative measures, including fines and closures, had been taken to contain the spread of the virus. The provinces had updated the NCOC on various activities being undertaken, particularly during SOP compliance week (Dec 5-12).

The meeting was informed that the national positivity ratio, which is measured on the basis of the number of positive cases in 100 samples, stood at 9.71pc.

Meanwhile, positivity ratio in Azad Jammu and Kashmir was 11.93pc; Balochistan, 11.61pc; Gilgit-Baltistan, 2.89pc, Islam­abad, 8.20pc; Khyber Pakhtun­khwa, 8.22pc; Punjab, 5.54pc and Sindh, 15.83pc.

In Punjab, Rawalpindi reported the highest positivity ratio at 12.09pc followed by 9.74pc in Lahore. In Sindh, the highest rate was recorded in Karachi at 21.31pc while Hyderabad reported 14pc.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17.86pc positivity was reported in Abbottabad and 16.66pc in Peshawar. In Balochistan, Quetta saw 7.05pc positivity rate while Islamabad recorded 8.2pc. The positivity rate in Gilgit stood at 9.09pc.

Talks with Russia, China

According to media reports, health authorities are negotiating with China and Russia, among others, to procure coronavirus vaccine.

“We are in talks with China, Russia and some other countries for procurement of the [Covid-19] vaccine after narrowing down our priority list,” Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said.

The vaccine, he said, would be available in Pakistan sometime between January and March next year and administered to health workers and senior citizens in the first phase.

“There is nothing final yet; however, I can tell you that we have to rely on more than one source,” the special assistant said.

“We will procure the vaccine only after its efficacy and safety is proven,” he added.

While Russia has started distribution of its Sputnik-V Covid-19 shot nationwide, China is testing its vaccines in many countries and supply deals are being signed.

Other vaccines seeking emergency use authorisation are produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca.

Pakistan has allocated $150 million to purchases the doses.

Last week, Parliamentary Secretary on National Health Services Dr Nausheen Hamid had said all citizens would be administered Covid-19 vaccines free of charge and the drive will begin in the second quarter of 2021.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2020