Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday witnessed a steady decline in new COVID-19 cases as well as deaths caused by the virus during the last twenty-four hours.
It was the fifth consecutive day when the country’s coronavirus positivity remained below or at 5 per cent.
Pakistan’s positivity rate was 4.96 per cent on Monday, 5.21 per cent on Tuesday, 4.85 per cent on Wednesday, 4.5 per cent on Thursday and 4.80 per cent on Friday.
According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) Pakistan’s COVID-19 positivity rate after 55,442 tests in the last twenty-four hours was recorded 4.42 per cent on Saturday.
The country’s death toll after 73 deaths in the last twenty-four hours climbed to 20,680 while 2,455 cases reported in one day took Pakistan’s tally of cases to 916,239.
100,000 doses
Pakistan received 100,000 doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine through Covax — the World Health Organization’s global programme of vaccine sharing.
The announcement of the vaccine’s arrival was shared on Unicef Pakistan’ Twitter account which also commended Pakistan for the “successful rollout of the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive, excellent arrangements at vaccination centres and inclusion of all above 18 years of age”.
“Over 100,000 doses of Pfizer COVID19 vaccine via COVAX have arrived in Pakistan Flag of Pakistan. Shipments of Pfizer diluents and syringes will be arriving over the next two days. The vaccines will be used for Govt of Pakistan’s ongoing #COVID19 vaccination campaign.”
This is the second consignment of vaccines that Pakistan has received through the Covax facility.
The country received the first shipment earlier this month consisting of 1,238,400 doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines.
The NCOC in a statement on Saturday announced the examinations for classes 10 and 12 would be held from June 23 to July 29.
The decision was taken during a special meeting of the NCOC chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the current coronavirus situation in the country.
Preparation classes
According to the NCOC, the provinces can start preparation classes for classes 10 and 12 from May 31 with all the COVID-19 SOPs intact.
Meanwhile, protesting the NCOC decision to hold “physical exams” hundreds of students took to roads demanding for “online exams.”
COVID-19 third wave is not over yet and forcing students to appear for exams in examination halls is like exposing them to coronavirus, they said.
COVID-19 positivity rate further dropped in Islamabad on Saturday and according to the District Health Department, this is the lowest rate of COVID-19 positivity in the city since the outbreak of the virus.
A day earlier, too, the positivity rate was recorded the lowest at 2.2 per cent in Islamabad but on Saturday it further dropped.
District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Zaeem Zia disclosed that 4,225 tests were conducted in the last twenty-four hours showing 88 infections in the city.
