NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri contracts coronavirus

Dunya News

Qasim Suri also requested everyone to pray for his early recovery

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – As the new coronavirus cases surges and the virus positivity ratio is also increasing, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri has been tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The NA deputy speaker took to the twitter to share the news saying, "his COVID-19 test came out positive, adding that he suffered from a mild fever, accompanied by a headache, for the last two or three days."

Qasim Suri also requested everyone to pray for his early recovery and also urged public to take the third wave of the pandemic seriously. “Make sure your elders get the coronavirus vaccine,” he added.


New guidlines 


Earlier today, Pakistan’s health officials announced new guidelines to fight COVID-19 and delayed the planned opening of public places as the numbers of new coronavirus cases continue to surge.

SAPM Faisal Sultan said that coronavirus cases are increasing in the country and urged administrative departments to enforce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding coronavirus.

The government has decided to immediately put in place new restrictions to control and prevent the sudden spike, he said.

The SAPM further said that the policy of smart lockdown and micro-smart lockdown in targeted areas and ban on holding marriage ceremonies in covered areas will continue across the country.

He said public parks will be closed at 6:00 pm and commercial activities at 10:00 pm except essential services. He said the situation will be further reviewed on 12th of next month. Offices have also been directed to function on 50 percent staff.

He said the vaccination process of senior citizens of 60 years of age and above has been started and these elderly people can get vaccination sending their CNIC number to 1166.


1786 new cases


Meanwhile, Pakistan has reported 43 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 595,239. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 13,324.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 1,786 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

Till now 260,150 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 179,654 in Punjab 74,433 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 46,229 in Islamabad, 19,141 in Balochistan, 10,673 in Azad Kashmir and 4,959 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore 5,629 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 4,442 in Sindh, 2,122 in KP, 512 in Islamabad, 314 in Azad Kashmir, 202 in Balochistan, and 103 in GB.