ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has registered a decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the official data compiled by the country’s central pandemic response body, only a few days after it reported the highest number of infections since the pandemic’s beginning.

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) informed on Sunday the country reported 4,874 new coronavirus cases a day before, even as the number of diagnosed patients remained over 6,000 in the last couple of days.

Pakistan logged its highest single-day rise of 8,183 cases on Jan. 28 since the emergence of the pandemic in Feb. 2020.

According to the NCOC, 56,051 tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, taking its positivity ratio 8.69 percent.

Statistics also revealed there were 1,681 critical care patients suffering from COVID-19 at various medical facilities, while 30 people had lost their lives to the respiratory disease in the last 24 hours.

Pakistan vaccinated 1,740,554 people on Saturday, taking the number of fully vaccinated individuals to 84,731,497.

The authorities have so far administered 2,758,593 booster shots to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible omicron strain of the virus in the country.

The government has been asking people to get themselves fully vaccinated while urging those who have received both vaccine doses to take a booster shot for their protection from the disease.

Apart from abiding by the officially prescribed health care protocols such as wearing face masks and keeping a safe physical distance, the government has urged all citizens over 12 years of age to register themselves for the vaccination drive.