Daily Times

An officer of the Pakistan Army has died of coronavirus, the military announced late on Sunday night.

Maj. Muhammad Asghar was detailed at the Torkham Border — one of the two key crossings with neighboring Afghanistan — to manage screening of the people, and movement of logistic convoys to the war-torn country.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major Muhammad Asghar laid his life in the line of duty at Torkham border in fight against COVID-19. Major Asghar was evacuated to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Peshawar with breathing problems. He was put on ventilator but succumbed to coronavirus.

“There is no cause bigger than serving the nation,” the ISPR said.

His death marks the first casualty from the novel virus in the country’s armed forces.

As of Monday, more than 30,400 coronavirus cases and 659 deaths have been reported across Pakistan. Cough, fever, difficulty breathing, tiredness, loss of smell or taste are some of the symptoms of the virus.

The latest public representatives to be affected by the virus are Members of National Assembly Gul Zafar Khan and Mehmood Shah and Member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Shafiq Sher Afridi. Gul Zafar is a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Bajaur, while Shafiq Sher Afridi is the PTI MPA from Khyber tribal district.

The samples of the members of the Parliament were taken by a special team of the National Institute of Health (NIH) as coronavirus tests were declared mandatory for those attending the National Assembly session.