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Pakistan reported 73 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the country's ministry of health said on Saturday.
The tally of infected people climbed to 1,531,112 across the country after adding the fresh cases, according to the data released by the ministry. A total of 30,381 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, with no more deaths over the last 24 hours, according to the ministry's statistics. As many as 13,635 tests for COVID-19 were conducted in Pakistan while the positivity rate stood at 0.54 per cent. There are 51 active cases that are in critical condition in the South Asian country. Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan reported 72 new COVID-19 cases and 50 active cases that are in critical condition. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Health of Pakistan reported the first case of COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1. on May 9. This new sub-variant is causing an increasing number of cases in different countries, the National Institute of Health (NIH) had said in a statement. "NIH has detected the first case of Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1. This new sub-variant is causing an increasing number of cases in different countries," the health body had tweeted. In view of this, NIH advised people to take preventive measures to avoid contracting the virus, which is vaccination against it. "We strongly recommended getting vaccinated and all those due for boosters must get the shots immediately," it added. Director General Health Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar said that the Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1 was detected in a traveller who had returned from Qatar. He added that this sub-variant is seen in the recent spike in cases in the US. "The disease severity and hospitalisation remain the same as Omicron but data is limited as of now," Pakistani media Geo TV reported. The WHO (World Health Organisation) designated Omicron as a Variant of Concern on November 26, 2021, while the first case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Karachi was reported on December 13. Since then, the Ministry of NHSRC (National Health Systems Resource Centre), NCOC, NIH (National Institute of Health) and the provincial health departments have remained vigilant to detect the variant in Pakistan," read an official statement. (ANI)
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