LAHORE: With a sharp increase in Covid cases, Punjab reported 12 deaths and 617 new infections during the last 24 hours.

In an alarming situation, the positivity rate in Lahore has reached 7.1 per cent, the highest one since Delta variant surfaced in the city.

Bahawalpur city reported 4.1pc, Multan 2.9 and Faisalabad district 7.2pc infectivity rate during the last 24 hours.

Of the new positive cases, 289 were reported in Lahore and 114 in Rawalpindi, the two districts which have been sharing most burden of the disease.

With new positive cases, the total number has reached 354,312 while deaths 10,976 in Punjab, according to the Covid update released here on Wednesday.

Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary Sara Aslam said the Covid cases were increasing fast across the province due to the presence of Delta variant.

She suggested the citizens to take preventive measures as the fourth wave was taking an ugly shape.

The health secretary said the government had intensified campaign to vaccinate maximum number of people, being the best solution to stop further transmission of the Delta variant.

She said health teams vaccinated 45,850 people in Lahore during its door-to-door drive.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2021