COVID-19 situation update
Pakistan’s recovery rate slumped to 90.6% as 1,797 patients managed to beat the virus on Sunday, January 3. In the same time frame, 39 casualties were recorded with Sindh reporting seventeen casualties, Punjab fifteen, Islamabad Capital Territory four, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa three and Balochistan one, at a sustained death rate of 2.1%.
COVID-19 case positivity rate continues on a downward trend with minor fluctuations, with a three-day rolling average of 5.61%. The total number of active cases in Pakistan is now 35,722 as 1,895 new infections were reported yesterday.
Ten Punjab localities under lockdown
The Punjab Government has imposed lockdowns in eight localities in Lahore, and a street each in Multan and Gujranwala after they were declared coronavirus hotspots. Eight roads in Gulberg, Defence Housing Authority, Lake City, Harbanspura and Singpura were identified after a reported spike in cases and positivity rate over the past two weeks.
Mutated UK strain reaches Pakistan
The Sindh government affirmed that three out of six COVID-19 positive Pakistanis returning from Britain were infected with the new, mutated strain affecting people in the UK. Samples collected from the three patients for genotyping found a 95% match with the new strain.
