Islamabad [Pakistan], January 19 (ANI): Witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, Pakistan reported 5,472 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Wednesday.

The overall tally of the COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,338,993 across the country, Xinhua reported citing the NCOC.

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An alarming rate of COVID-19 positivity rate in the city of Karachi has sent ripples through the medical fraternity in the country.

Witnessing this record spike, the PMA urged the Pakistani government to act quickly after Karachi's COVID-19 positivity rate reached 40 percent. This number only showed registered coronavirus cases, however, the number of unregistered cases is much higher, it added.

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This latest surge in virus cases is said to have been caused by the fifth wave of COVID-19, which would touch peak in the middle of March, according to the Dawn newspaper.

A total of 29,037 people died of COVID-19 in Pakistan, including eight patients who lost their lives to the pandemic over the last 24 hours, the NCOC said.

According o Xinhua, over the last 24 hours, 628 patients have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,265,239, said the NCOC.

Pakistan's southern Sindh province has been the worst hit, with a total of 509,308 cases, followed by eastern Punjab province where the virus was detected in 455,499 people, Xinhua reported. (ANI)

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