Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Captain (Retd) Safdar Awan has returned to Lahore from Gilgit after testing positive for COVID-19, ARY News reported on Monday. Safdar Awan, who was taking part in the ongoing campaign alongside PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz ahead of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) polls, contracted COVID-19, it emerged on Monday.
کیپٹن صفدر کا بھی کرونا وائرس ٹیسٹ مثبت آگیا،، اللہ انہیں جلد صحتیاب کرے آمین pic.twitter.com/ZiMtEr15iD
— Hassan Ayub Khan (@HassanAyub82) November 9, 2020
He returned to Lahore from Gilgit and quarantined himself at Sharif’s Jati Umra residence.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira tested positive for coronavirus, reported local media. Sources added that Qamar Zaman Kaira underwent the COVID-19 test yesterday night and the results came back positive on Monday.
After contracting the coronavirus, the PPP leader immediately left the election campaign in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and reached Islamabad. The sources said that he went into self-isolation for 15 days.
Read more: Corona virus: Should Pakistan anticipate another lockdown?
The top leadership of all political parties are heading to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) ahead of the election on November 15 and organizing large public gatherings by setting aside all precautionary measures against the coronavirus pandemic during its ongoing second wave in Pakistan.
COVID-19 cases increasing in Pakistan, NCOC informed
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in its session on Monday expressed concern over the soaring rate of COVID-19 positive cases in the country, ARY News reported.
A review meeting of the NCOC, chaired by federal minister Asad Umar, thoroughly discussed the soaring rate of novel coronavirus positive cases and enforcement of precautionary measures in the country.
The NCOC meeting expressed concern over the increasing ratio of positive cases in the country, which has reached to 4.5 percent. “Positive rate of coronavirus cases rapidly increasing in big cities, which is at maximum in 15 major cities of the country,” it was observed in the NCOC meeting. “Maximum positive rate of coronavirus cases has been reported 16.59 percent in Hyderabad,” the meeting observed.
“The rate of positive cases in Gilgit is 15.38 percent and Multan at 15.97 pct,” the meeting was informed. Mover the rate of positive cases in Muzaffarabad was recorded at 14.12% and 11.11% in Mirpur Azad Kashmir.
“The corona positive cases ratio in Peshawar reached to 9.63 and in Quetta 8.03 percent,” the meeting was briefed.
Islamabad have 7.48 pct, Karachi 7.12 percent, Lahore 5.37 pct and Rawalpindi 4.63 percent ratio of positive coronavirus cases.
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Provincial chief secretaries briefed the meeting about the steps taken in the context of recent guidelines and implementation of the SOPs in sensitive cities including use of face masks and outdoor weddings.
The meeting was told that micro-smart lockdowns have been enforced at 4136 spots across the country.
The meeting was also informed that 2811 oxygen beds have been provided to hospitals to enhance their working capacity, while 13,000 oxygen cylinders have also been supplied to the provinces and the federal territories.
The meeting was informed that present health guidelines will remain in force in the country till January 2021.