Pakistan claimed the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the last 3 weeks as eight people died because of the virus in a single day, National Institute of Health, Islamabad’s (NIH) data showed Thursday morning.
The country reported nine deaths on July 7.
The COVID-19 positivity rate in Pakistan stands at 3.65%. As many as 761 new COVID-19 infections were detected after testing on 20,843 samples, taking the country’s total coronavirus case count to 1,552,632.
Meanwhile, 170 people are in critical care units.
What is COVID BA.5 variant and why is it reinfecting so many people?
BA5, part of the Omicron family, is the latest coronavirus variant to cause widespread waves of infection globally.
According to the WHO’s most recent report, it was behind 52% of cases sequenced in late June. In the United States, it is estimated to be causing around 65% of infections.
Rising case numbers
BA5 is not new. First identified in January, WHO tracked it since April.
It is a sister variant of the Omicron strain that has been dominant worldwide since the end of 2021. It has already caused hikes in case rates – even with reduced testing – in countries including South Africa.
Coronavirus cases worldwide have now been rising for four weeks in a row, WHO data showed.
Why is it spreading?
BA4, BA5 is particularly good at evading the immune protection either by vaccination or prior infection.
“BA5 has a growth advantage over the other sublineages of Omicron that are circulating,” said Maria Van Kerkhove.
For many people, this means that they are getting re-infected, often even a short time after having COVID-19. Van Kerkhove said the WHO is assessing reports of re-infections.
“We have ample evidence that people who caught Omicron are getting infected with BA5. No question about it,” said Gregory Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.