As Pakistan braces itself for the third wave of coronavirus pandemic, Peshawar has become the city with the highest percentage of coronavirus cases in Pakistan. 

The prevalence of coronavirus cases in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital has reached 24 percent. In Lahore, the coronavirus positivity rate is 18 percent. The percentage of coronavirus cases in Karachi is 4. 

In Islamabad, a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases was witnessed on Saturday and the district health officer (DHO) confirmed the rise in positivity rate to 10.7 percent.

The DHO said in statement that 709 coronavirus cases were reported in the federal capital in 24 hours. The positivity rate of coronavirus cases crossed the 10 percent mark, whereas the number of deaths reached up to 557, including two deaths in 24 hours.

In total, 55,056 cases have been reported in Islamabad so far and 62 percent of ventilators are currently occupied by critical patients. The latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) show that coronavirus has claimed 67 more lives in Pakistan in 24 hours and 4,468 new cases have been reported during this period.

Warning by Asad Umar

National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) head Asad Umar said on Saturday the federal government would go ahead with ‘tough decisions’ if the coronavirus pandemic situation worsens in Pakistan.

Asad Umar, while addressing a press conference here, said the government had taken necessary decisions after predicting a spike in the coronavirus cases. He said that the coronavirus cases have spread rapidly, however, the decisions taken by NCOC were not implemented. Umar continued that the people have no idea about the dangerous situation of the pandemic.

The NCOC head reiterated that the new coronavirus variant is more contagious and is spreading rapidly. He detailed that around 47,000 COVID-19 cases are being reported in India on a daily basis. “In Pakistan, the number of critical patients was 3,300 during the peak of the first wave, whereas 2220 critical patients were recorded during the second wave. During its third wave, 2,800 patients are declared critical and the hospitals in cities are nearly full to their capacity.”