ISLAMABAD – President Arif Alvi announced on Monday that he has contracted novel coronavirus.
The development comes two weeks after he and first lady Samina Alvi received first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
President Alvi tweeted, “I have tested positive for Covid-19. May Allah have mercy on all Covid affectees. Had 1st dose of vaccine، but antibodies start developing after 2nd dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful”.
وازا مرضت فھوا یشفین
اور جب میں بیمار ہوتا ہوں تو وہی شفا دیتا ہے
I have tested positive for Covid-19. May Allah have mercy on all Covid affectees. Had 1st dose of vaccine، but antibodies start developing after 2nd dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful.
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) March 29, 2021
However, the wife of the president has tested negative for the virus.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi tested positive for the infection. Both are isolating at the home.
The coronavirus’s third wave is displaying no signs of slowing down. In Pakistan, the coronavirus positivity rate crossed 11% on Monday.
According to statistics from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 40,369 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with 4,525 of them testing positive, bringing the national positivity rate to 11.21 percent.
The new cases bring the total number of positive coronavirus cases to 659,116. Sindh has 264,889 cases, Punjab has 215,227, KP has 85,531 cases, the federal capital has 56,450 cases, Balochistan has 19,525, Azad Jammu and Kashmir has 12,484, and Gilgit Baltistan has 5,010 cases.
In Pakistan, there are 46,663 active COVID-19 cases, with 598,197 recovered from the virus.
Pakistan has also lost 41 people to the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, with the bulk of deaths happening in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The recent deaths brought the total number of people killed in the country to 14,256. 6,246 people died in Punjab, 4,491 in Sindh, 2,301 in KP, 561 in Islamabad, 206 in Balochistan, 348 in AJK, and 103 in Gilgit Baltistan.
