Pakistani officials have introduced a series of tough new coronavirus restrictions — including barring anyone not fully vaccinated from entering mosques for prayer — after recording the country’s highest known daily number of new cases since the pandemic began. The government banned indoor gatherings, including weddings, and ordered schools to be closed and contact sports canceled in any district where the test positivity rate exceeded 10 percent, a threshold that much of the country of 220 million has surpassed. The national test positivity rate stands at about 13 percent. Karachi, the port city of about 15 million people, recorded a positivity rate of 46 percent, meaning nearly one in every two tests was returning positive. In Islamabad, the capital city, nearly one in every five tests, or about 20 percent, was positive.

Source: New York Times January 24, 2022 12:22 UTC