ISLAMABAD: The second highest number of Covid-19 cases was reported on Tuesday across the country since April 29 last year, when 5,113 cases were reported.

According to the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 5,034 cases and 10 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

On Dec 25 last year, Islamabad had confirmed its first case and later it was officially announced that Pakistan had entered the fifth wave of pandemic.

Meanwhile, the NCOC has referred a case to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against a fake Twitter account that used the title of the centre.

It announced that all primary educational institutions will remain open across the country until further orders.

“A fake news regarding closure of primary schools is circulating via fake twitter account. Action against this account has been initiated through FIA cybercrime wing,” the NCOC tweeted.

While the national positivity rate remained at 9.45pc, as many as 10 cities reported a positivity ratio of over 7pc.

Karachi reported the highest 38.79pc positivity rate, Gujranwala 14.93pc, Hyderabad 13.98pc, Lahore 12.87pc, Nowshera 10pc, Islamabad 8.86pc, Mirpur 7.77pc, Rawalpindi 7.6pc, Peshawar 7.24pc and Muzaffarabad 7.14pc.

Similarly, the number of admissions in hospitals was increasing as during the past 24 hours 211 persons were hospitalised across the country, including 105 in Sindh.

The number of critical patients also increased, from 781 to 827 on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2022