| Officials say 75 cases of Omicron variant are ‘confirmed in Pakistan so far’
| 12 cases were associated with international travel: NIH 

ISLAMABAD   -  The National Institute of Health Sciences (NIH) on Tuesday said that Pakistan has so far reported 75 cases of Covid-19 Omicron variant.

In a recent statement issued by NIH, It is said that since World Health Organization (WHO) designated Omicron as a Variant of Concern on 26th November 2021, saying that the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation Coordination (NHSRC), National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), NIH and Provincial Health Departments have remained vigilant to detect the variant in Pakistan.

The statement further stated that the first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was reported on 13 December in Karachi. “As of 27th December 2021, a total of 75 Omicron cases have been confirmed; 33 in Karachi, 17 in Islamabad and 13 in Lahore,” said a statement of NIH.

It elaborated that12 of these cases were associated with international travel, saying that the relevant authorities have isolated the patients and initiated contract tracing in order to control the spread of the variant.

“Vaccination and SOPs continue to be our best defence against Covid-19 despite the mutations being reported,” said the statement.

It maintained that all government approved Covid-19 vaccines available in Pakistan remain highly effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation.

The government urges everyone to get both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as well as the booster dose as per the eligibility criteria and process, said that statement.

It is important to mention here that NCOC, in its latest record showed that the positivity ratio of coronavirus in Pakistan stood at 0.6 percent in last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Denmark has donated more than 484,000 Moderna Covid vaccine doses to Pakistan through the United Nations Children’s Fund.

“Over 484,000 Covid-19 Moderna vaccine doses, donated by the embassy of Denmark were presented to the government of Pakistan today,” the UNICEF tweeted.

It added: “Ceremony was attended by Charge d’ Affairs, Danish Embassy,   Simon Kjeldsen, EPI Deputy National Programme Manager    Dr Soofia Yunus and UNICEF’s OIC Deputy Representative Anteneh G Minas.”

Meanwhile. Pakistan has reported three new deaths and 291 more Covid-19 positive cases during last 24 hours.

According to the latest figures provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 291 persons have been tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours while 3 more people have lost their lives to the deadly disease.

With 291 more people contracted the coronavirus, the overall number of positive cases surged to 1,294,031. The nationwide tally of fatalities after 3 more people died of the virus has jumped to 28,912 on Tuesday morning.

According to the province wise figures of the National Command and Operation Centre, Punjab still remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

With 28,912overall deaths recorded in the country out of which 13,066 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 7,663 in Sindh 5,922 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 966 in Islamabad, 746 in Azad Kashmir, 363 in Balochistan, and 186 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

So far 1,294,031 overall positive cases were reported across the country out of which 480,901 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 444,670 in Punjab 181,247 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108,502 in Islamabad, 34,657 in Azad Kashmir 33,625 in Balochistan and 10,429 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan has so far conducted 23,234,148 coronavirus tests and 41,869 in the last 24 hours. As many as 1,255,204 patients have recovered in the country whereas 636 patients are in critical condition. The Covid-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 0.69 percent.

So far, 92,086,806 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 771,159 in the last 24 hours. As many as 65,149,948 citizens have been fully vaccinated while 841,430 received their second dose in the last 24 hours. The number of total administered doses has reached to 148,265,690 with 1,336,509 in the last 24 hours, according to the NCOC.