Ex-NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq tests positive for coronavirus

By News Desk

LAHORE: Former National Assembly (NA) speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq became the latest Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader to test positive for the coronavirus on Friday, as the country witnessed its largest day-on-day increase in cases and deaths — 6,397new infections as 107 deaths.

According to PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb, the former NA speaker was self-isolating at his home after testing positive for Covid-19. “My test results are in and unfortunately I have tested positive for Covid-19. Need your prayers as I self quarantine. May Allah keep each one of us in His protection. Verily after hardship there is ease,” Sadiq said in a tweet. The PML-N leader was said to frequently visit his constituency in the days leading to his diagnosis.

It may be mentioned here that a number of parliamentarians are suffering from the pandemic. Just a day earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif tested positive.

According to the latest figures of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the total number of positive cases surged to 128,361 and the nationwide tally of fatalities jumped to 2,480 as of 6:04am on Friday.

Till now 49,256 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh; 47,382 in Punjab; 15,787 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP); 7,673 in Balochistan; 6,699 in Islamabad; 1,030 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 534 in Azad Kashmir.

Furthermore, 890 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab; 793 in Sindh, 632 in KP; 75 in Balochistan; 65 in Islamabad; 15 in GB and 10 in Azad Kashmir.