ANP chief tests positive as Covid-19 gains pace

By News Desk

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: Awami National Party’s (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan tested positive for Covid-19, the party said on Sunday, as Pakistan continued to come to grips with a once again resurgent coronavirus.

ANP spokeswoman Samar Haroon Bilour tweeted that after Khan tested positive for Covid-19, physicians advised him to follow proper protective measures against the infection. The ANP chief has since isolated himself at Wali Bagh Charsadda, she said, and appealed to everyone to pray for his early recovery.

The development comes as 2,664 more people tested positive for the disease and 32 died in the 24-hour-period leading to Sunday, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). The nationwide positivity ratio stood at 6.6 per cent, which means the epidemic is spreading, according to the WHO. Test positivity have to be below 5 per cent for it to be considered on the decline.

Islamabad was bearing the brunt of the third wave, and instituted more targeted lockdowns in several sectors, District Commissioner Hamza Shafqat announced. He shortly announced that he himself had come down with Covid, and requested prayers. At least 38 per cent of the capital’s ventilators occupied.

It was followed closely by Lahore, with 34 per cent, Multan 28 per cent and Peshawar 25 per cent.

Meanwhile, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have seen significant increases in coronavirus cases. According to Geo News, Peshawar has seen a 100 per cent increase in coronavirus infections in two days. In 24 hours, out of 1,653 cases of Punjab, about one thousand were reported in Lahore alone. Geo News also reported on the people’s indifference despite the onset of the third wave. Maskless crowds continued to throng markets and a mandatory mask rule was not being adhered to in Islamabad.

Ten restaurants were found in violation of SOPs in Gujarat, and 36 wedding halls were sealed in Faisalabad. All parks and business centres in six districts of Punjab will be closed from today at 6pm, and traders have expressed concerns over the closure of business next week and Sunday.

In Sindh, a spokesman for Sindh Police on Sunday said 94 new Covid cases were reported in policemen over the last seven days. A total of 6,250 personnel and officers of Sindh Police have contracted coronavirus so far. Currently 122 personnel were under treatment. Twenty-four have died.