The speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly (NA) said late on Thursday that he had tested positive for the Covid-19 respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, after hosting an Iftar to celebrate Ramadan, and meeting Prime Minister Imran Khan and other high officials earlier in the week.
It is not immediately known if the prime minister will be tested, but he had been checked last month, and tested negative, after meeting with the head of Pakistan’s biggest charity organisation, who was subsequently confirmed to have caught the disease.
The National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, is currently in recess, though opposition parties have been calling for it to convene to discuss the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, where the number of cases has risen to 16,817, including 385 deaths.
The decision on whether to convene rests with Speaker Asad Qaiser, who on Thursday night revealed that he had tested positive.
“I have quarantined myself at home,” Qaiser, who is also a close aide to Prime Minister Khan, said on Twitter. “I urge the entire nation to take preventive measures.”
Qaiser met the prime minister on Monday, and has met several other leading figures over the past few days.
The speaker had hosted an Iftar attended by politicians and dignitaries on Monday.
Abdul Wahid, brother of Qaiser, confirmed to the Express Tribune that the NA speaker’s son and daughter have also tested positive for the contagious disease and have been quarantined.
Earlier, Qaiser’s brother-in-law and sister were diagnosed with the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
Daily detection of the virus has hit record highs on each of the last three days as the country ramps up its testing.
On Thursday, 990 people tested positive.
Daily testing is still around 8,000 in the country, which has more than 207mn people.
The government says that infections are well below projections and that it plans to further ease precautionary curbs after having already opened dozens of industries and commercial activities, as well as mosque congregations.
Qaiser is the second top-level official to be infected in Pakistan, after the Governor of Sindh province, Imran Ismail, tested positive on Monday.
“I believe this is nothing against what we [are] prepared for,” the governor wrote on his official Twitter handle.
Pakistan’s government agreed to allow mosque congregations after senior clerics and religious leaders threatened to violate restrictions during Ramadan.
The two sides worked out safety protocols for the mosque gatherings, but a social research organisation earlier this week reported that protocols were not being followed.
Prominent doctors pleaded with the government to reconsider the decision, warning that mosque congregations, which are typically larger during Ramadan, could lead to a spike in infections, overwhelming hospitals that are already nearing capacity.
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/3d6g5ht
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