Daily Times

Two members of the provincial assembly (MPAs), one from Punjab and the other from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, passed away from Covid-19 on Wednesday, a day after Sindh minister Ghulam Murtaza Baloch died from the disease.

In KP, ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Mian Jamshedud Din Kakakhel died in the morning at Islamabad’s Kalsoom Hospital. He was on a ventilator after having tested positive for the novel coronavirus last week, according to Radio Pakistan. Kakakhel, 65, was elected to the provincial assembly from Nowshera in 2018.

Later in the day, PML-N MPA from Wazirabad Shaukat Manzoor Cheema passed away from virus, his colleague in the Punjab Assembly MPA Bilal Farooq Tarar confirmed. Cheema had been undergoing treatment at the Pakistan Kidney And Liver Institute (PKLI) in Lahore. “His condition had significantly improved a few days back … he was taken off the vent. Deteriorated all of a sudden on Wednesday,” Tarar wrote on Twitter.

Two more MPAs from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly also tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday. Both the MPAs belong to the Awami National Party (ANP). The ANP confirmed that Faisal Zeb Khan and Salahuddin Khan had tested positive.

In Karachi, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA Saleem Balooch tested positive for novel coronavirus on Wednesday. The MPA, elected from PS-89 Malir, is currently self-isolating. The fresh cases among the provincial lawmakers have raised the tally of total infected members since the outbreak of the virus to 13.

The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients soared to 82,763 on Wednesday, with 29,489 cases reported in Punjab, 32,910 in Sindh, 11,373 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4,740 in Balochistan, 779 in Gilgit Baltistan, 3,188 in Islamabad and 284 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir so far. The virus has claimed at least 1,727 lives while about 28,988 coronavirus patients have recovered so far.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah Wednesday said record 1,824 new coronavirus cases were detected in the province over the previous 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 32,910. He said 29 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the total number of fatalities to 555. He added 367 patients are in critical condition while 56 are on ventilators. As many as 1,824 new infections surfaced when record 7,547 tests were conducted, the chief minister said, adding that the number of people who have recuperated from the infection has soared to 16,022 with 487 more patients having recovered over the past 24 hours. Of new coronavirus cases, 1,284 were detected in Karachi alone.

One more policeman succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Karachi on Wednesday. Wireless Operator Hassan Raza was hospitalized after testing positive for deadly virus. He lost his life battling the virus at a private hospital on Wednesday. Raza was performing his duties in Police’s telecommunication department in Karachi’s Central district. It may be noted that so far, eight personnel of Sindh Police have lost their lives, while more than 350 senior officers and the personnel are fighting the virus.

Punjab health authorities reported 1,639 new cases, taking the provincial tally to 29,489 on Wednesday. The province reported 30 more deaths, raising the provincial death toll to 570.

DIG Establishment Muhammad Ashfaq Khan tested positive for Covid-19. After receiving his result, he placed himself in quarantine. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Anti-Vehicle Staff Kashif Dogar also tested positive for Covid-19.

He has been placed in quarantine. So far, 674 officials of the Punjab Police have contracted the virus.

Ten more doctors of Jinnah Hospital Lahore on Wednesday tested positive for coronavirus, highlighting the risk front line health workers face as they deal with the pandemic in the country.

Young Doctors Association (YDA) while confirming the fresh tally of affected doctors said that overall 80 medics have contracted the virus in the hospital. All virus-infected doctors have been isolated, said the Medical Superintendent of Jinnah Hospital Dr Yahya Sultan. He said that the doctors and paramedics affected from coronavirus were provided with proper health facilities in the hospital.

It is pertinent to mention here that health workers dealing with coronavirus pandemic at frontline continue to suffer from the infection. According to statistics released by Ministry for National Health and Emergency Services on June 1, the total number of health workers affected from coronavirus in country has reached 2,193 and 23 of them have lost their battle against the infection.

As many as 333 nurses have also contracted the infection as they treat virus patients on the frontline. Overall 628 paramedics have been affected from novel coronavirus in the country so far.