Unvaccinated people won't be allowed into govt offices under fresh NCOC guidelines.

ISLAMABAD -- As the surge in Covid-19 cases continues unabated, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday issued new guidelines suggesting unvaccinated people should not be allowed to enter government offices.

Moreover, 641 people were infected with the virus during the past 24 hours, with the national positivity rate touching 3.41 per cent. Two persons succumbed to the virus and 119 patients were on critical care.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services said that unfortunately the pandemic had bounced back in the country. 'Cases double in every five days, the number of patients being hospitalised is increasing and deaths are also being reported. It is worrisome that detection beyond Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore still has no signs of improvement despite repeated push,' he said.

Five cities reported over 3pc positivity. Karachi topped the list with 19.09pc positivity rate and 390 cases in a single day, followed by Mardan 5.95pc positivity, Muzaffarabad 4.62pc, Lahore 3.49pc and Mirpur reported 3.33pc.

Surge in Covid-19 cases continues unabated; 641 infected, two dead

The data showed a worrisome picture as the positivity rate in Mardan stood at 5.95pc, but it reported only five cases. Only 84 tests were carried out in the city.

Similarly, Muzaffarabad showed 4.62pc positivity, but three cases were reported from there. Mirpur reported 3.33pc positivity, but only one case was found there, as only 30 samples were collected from the city in a single day.

The NCOC guidelines suggested that Covid awareness...