ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday reported the highest number of daily deaths caused by the coronavirus in three months, as infection figures continue to surge amid the rapid spread of the omicron variant.
In the past 24 hours, the South Asian nation recorded 5,830 new COVID-19 cases and 42 deaths — its highest daily death toll since October last year — according to data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which oversees the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The number of active cases crossed the 100,000 mark on Thursday with the virus positivity rate at 9.75 percent as Pakistan continues to battle a fifth wave of the infections fueled by the highly transmissible new variant.
Since the start of the pandemic last year, Pakistan has reported 1,442,263 COVID-19 cases and 29,372 deaths, with the government pushing for strict compliance of health protocols to curb the outbreak.
Authorities have been urging people to get vaccinated and not to take the omicron variant lightly.
Amid a sharp increase in infections, Pakistan’s government launched a nationwide door-to-door anti-COVID vaccination drive on Tuesday and set a target to administer over 30.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines in two weeks.
