More students, teachers test positive
Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Vahowa, Dera Ghazi Khan, has been sealed for two weeks as two students tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease during random on-campus sampling. Around 2,500 students have been tested since the reopening of schools in the district.
Five more teachers across different schools and colleges in Rawalpindi contracted COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases emerging from educational institutions in the city to 19, while the results of 227 suspected cases are still awaited. 2,574 students, teachers, and staff members in 44 institutions have been tested so far. All infected individuals have been isolated while no schools have been closed as of yet.
A total of 406 COVID-19 infections have been reported from different educational institutions in Balochistan since September 15, revealed by a total of 4,237 smart sampling and randomized testing by provincial authorities. According to Balochistan Government Spokesperson Liaqat Shahwani, scores of schools and colleges have been sealed to date after the detection of cases. Institutions will only be closed down if more than two cases are detected.
COVID-19 re-infections reported in Karachi
Healthcare professionals across various healthcare facilities in Karachi report receiving re-infected coronavirus patients, just as daily cases see a notable uptick in the city for the past several days. Re-infected patients are reported to experience more severe symptoms – patients who developed short-lived antibodies or no antibodies at all the first time around are at risk of a second infection.
Although the phenomenon is not widespread, it is not uncommon. Although no deaths from second infections have been reported as of yet, some of these patients require life-support owing to the severity of the symptoms.
Upward of 500 daily cases reported
566 coronavirus infections were detected from 40,167 tests conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, pointing toward a minute decline in case of positivity from 1.8% on Thursday, September 23 to 1.41% as of September 25. 593 recoveries were reported in the same timeframe, outstripping daily fresh cases for the first time since the past few days, however, the overall recovery rate dropped to 95.4% from 95.5% on September 23. Seven fatalities were reported in the country – four in Sindh, one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one in Gilgit-Baltistan, and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Sindh continues to report the highest number of daily fatalities among the provinces; meanwhile, the national death rate has remained stable at 2.1% for the past few months.