Transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron form has begun in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, and we expect a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country in the next two weeks.
In the middle of February 2022, Pakistan may suffer the fifth wave of COVID-19, with daily cases climbing to 3,000 to 4,000,” according to a National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination official (NHS, R&C)
75 instances of the Omicron strain have been confirmed in Pakistan, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad, with 33 of them in Karachi, where the first case was reported on December 13, 2021, 17 in Islamabad, and 13 in Lahore. “There are seven or eight labs in entire Pakistan with the capacity to detect the mutations in the virus that indicate that it is the Omicron variant. Once these labs have the suspected cases, they refer it to the NIH or AKUH Karachi for whole genome sequencing for confirmation. Probably, that’s why we are not seeing a large number of cases of this variant of concern but it rapidly replacing the Delta variant in Pakistan.” the official warned.
