LAHORE: Two of the main cities of Punjab – Multan and Faisalabad –reported the highest coronavirus positivity rates of 8.3 and 8.1 percent, respectively, during the last 24 hours.

The positivity rate was recorded 7.8 in Rawalpindi and 7.7 in Lahore during the same period, according to the official update released by the health department here on Monday.

Meanwhile, 11 more Covid deaths and 990 new infections were reported in the province, taking the tally to 12,405 and 422,791, respectively.

Most of the new cases were recorded in the four major cities of the province, including 522 in Lahore, 67 in Faisalabad, 51 in Rawalpindi and 49 in Multan.

A health department official said the number of Covid cases are neither decreasing nor increasing as the daily average of the positive cases was around 1,000 during the last two months or so.

He said the daily vaccination number has increased during the same period, but the fourth wave of the virus was yet not dying down which was a matter of serious concern for the health administration of the province.

The official said besides the vaccination, other preventive measures like social distancing and wearing mask were also equally important to curtail the virus and people should take these protocols seriously as well.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2021