Former Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah contracts COVID-19

KARACHI: Former Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, it emerged on Tuesday.

The veteran PPP leader’s diagnosis was confirmed by his daughter Nafisa Shah. 

Taking to Twitter, she said,” My father, Qaim AliShah, tested positive for the coronavirus a few days back.”

“He has all the symptoms and is undergoing treatment and care at home under the supervision of a team of doctors,” she added. Nafisa Shah requested the people to pray for his good health and speedy recovery.

The development takes place at a time when Sindh has been reporting a surge in coronavirus cases over the past couple of weeks.

The provincial government has imposed a lockdown in the province till August 8 with fresh restrictions in place to stem the spread of the virus. 

67 succumb to COVID-19 in 24 hours

News of the former chief minister contracting the virus comes as Pakistan battles the fourth wave of the pandemic, reporting 67 new coronavirus deaths, raising the nationwide tally to 23,529 on Tuesday.

About 3,582 new coronavirus cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the data issued by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on its official web portal.

The coronavirus positivity rate in Pakistan stood at 7.19% with 75,373 active cases across the country.

The NCOC data reveals that at least 49,798 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, out of which 3,582 came back positive.

In addition to this, 1,355 patients have recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 944,375, while the total number of cases has reached 1,043,277.