ISLAMABAD: Health officials have recently warned that Pakistan might face a fifth COVID-19 wave in mid-February 2022.
Increased transmission of Omicron variant of coronavirus has started in the major cities of Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, with over 70 recently reported cases of Omicron variant, said the officials.
An official of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS, R&C) said to the local media that Pakistan might experience the fifth wave of the COVID-19 in the middle of February 2022, with the number of daily cases rising to 3,000 to 4,000.
The NHS official further claimed that most of the Omicron variant cases being 'asymptomatic' indicated that it could be spreading silently in the major cities. However, he said, only a few labs could pick the suspected cases and then report them to the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, and Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, for confirmation through Whole Genome Sequencing.