People urged to get booster dose amid Covid surge.

KARACHI -- As the Covid-19 positivity rate rose in the city from 15.85 per cent to 21.7pc in three days with one death on Sunday, health experts urged the general public to get their booster doses.

According to the provincial data, a person died of the virus in the city, which reported 206 new cases.

The general public isn't taking the warnings over coronavirus seriously and the turnover for booster shots is low despite high infectivity of the new variants and rapid increase in Covid-19 cases, particularly in Karachi and Hyderabad, Dr Samreen Ashraf Qureshi, the provincial focal person for Covid-19 told Dawn.

All designated vaccination centres, she said, were active in the province where people could get free-of-cost booster shots.

Booster shot can be received after five months

'Major Covid-19 vaccination facilities in Karachi include the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, Dow University Hospital, Ojha campus, Children Hospital in North Nazimabad and Thaddo Nalo centre in Malir,' she said.

A booster shot could be received after five months, she added.

According to the provincial data, more than 2,700 patients are in home isolation. Of them, 35 are in critical condition at hospitals.

The Covid-19 positivity rate of Hyderabad has risen to 8.51pc.

Considering the situation, the health department had asked the commissioners of Karachi and Hyderabad to ensure mandatory wearing of masks at public places and check vaccination cards at shopping malls, shrines and restaurants.

A letter issued to the Karachi commissioner by the health director general read that the recent increase in Covid-19 cases...