Islamabad: Pakistan is witnessing a decline in COVID-19 cases and increase in dengue infections.
According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC), the country’s single day infections on Thursday were 706 after 49,486 tests conducted in last twenty-four hours.
Likewise, the death toll too, in the last 24 hours dropped to nine and this is the third occasion in the current week that Pakistan’s toll due to COVID-19 was less than 10.
The COVID-19 positivity rate too is below 2 per cent for the 13th consecutive day (since Oct 15) registering 1.42 per cent on Thursday.
Pakistan’s total number of deaths now stands at 28,414 after nine fatalities in the last day while the number of cases have climbed to 1,271,027 after new infections.
According to the Ministry of the National Health Services (NHS) Pakistan’s active cases are 23,439.
85% of Islamabad population vaccinated
In the federal capital, 2.1 million people have received COVID-19 vaccine shots and according to District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia, 85 per cent of the population of Islamabad stands vaccinated so far.
Pakistan has set a target of administering 70 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the current year.
No let up in dengue cases
Contrary to COVID-19 situation, dengue virus infections continue to surge in Pakistan, as the case count has crossed 27,000 since the first case was reported in the current year.
From January 1 to October 2,727,672 people have tested positive for the mosquito-born disease in the country, while it has claimed the lives of 67 people, as per the data of the ministry of health.
Of the total caseload, the highest number of patients have to date been reported in Punjab (11,655) followed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) (5,337) Islamabad (3,697) and Sindh (3,564).
In Punjab, 34 people have died, 15 persons have lost their lives in Sindh, 11 in Islamabad and seven in KP.
According to DHO Dr Zaeem, once bitten by a dengue infected mosquito, the virus takes four to ten days to affect the body. Its symptoms can be mild, similar to a common flu, or severe such as fever, headaches, pain behind the eyes and nausea.
As per the WHO, the best way to prevent the virus is to wear clothing that covers the body well, especially the legs and feet, and to apply insect repellents.
