Amid the alarming rise in the coronavirus cases in Islamabad, Kashmir Committee Chairman Shehryar Afridi, who is also the Minister of State for SAFRON and Narcotics Control, too has contracted the virus, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.
In a tweet posted after midnight during early hours of Saturday, Shehryar shared the news, saying he had quarantined himself at his home after testing positive for the virus.
On the other hand, Rana Arif Iqbal – a Punjab Assembly member elected from Sialkot on a PML-N ticket – and five of his family members – wife and four children – also tested positive for the virus.
The news about Shehryar came as the number of reported coronavirus cases in Islamabad has reached 2,192 with 23 deaths.
But there is currently a trend of high-profile personalities contracting the coronavirus in Pakistan, as Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail had tested positive earlier on Friday.
On the other hand, Punjab recorded another 29 deaths during the past 24 hours, where a total of 24,104 people have so far been infected by the coronavirus.
The last 24 hours were the deadliest for Pakistan since the pandemic outbreak as 78 died of the virus, raising the overall death toll to 1,395.
The figures released by National Command and Operation Centre also show the number of coronavirus cases has now jumped to 66,457 with the addition of 2,429 new infected persons during the same period.
Commenting on the grave situation, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday warned that the government’s egoism, indifference and negligence in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic would yield results in the form of catastrophe.
In a tweet, he said, “In the last half month alone, the number of cases in Pakistan has doubled, with more than 78 Pakistanis killed in the last 24 hours.”