Daily Times

Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus.

Mandviwalla, in a tweet, said, “I have tested positive [for] Covid [-]19 and [have] isolated myself at home as per advice by medics.” “I request all friends and family who have recently met me [to] quarantine also. I need your prayers and blessings in this crucial time,” he added.

Mandviwalla is the latest among several mainstream politicians to have contracted the virus. Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid tested positive and recovered earlier this year.

Another case of coronavirus was reported in the Karachi University as a female student of the law department was diagnosed with Covid-19. It is the second case reported in the university. Earlier, another female student was tested positive who had arrived at the premises to take part in examination.

A university spokesperson said in a statement that the female student has been stopped from appearing in the examination, adding that the administration will ensure the implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs). The varsity’s Student Advisor Office had already informed all students about the Covid-19 SOPs. It emerged that the infected student arrived at the university despite being stopped by the administration. On the other hand, the students complained about the negligence of the administration in term of implementing SOPs at the premises.

Earlier on September 17, classes at Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi and city campus were suspended for two days after two students contracted the contagion.

On Saturday, total active Covid-19 cases in Pakistan were recorded at 7,797 as 566 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. Seven coronavirus patient, who were under treatment in hospital died, according to the latest update issued by the National command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

No Covid-affected person is on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Balochistan, while 104 ventilators elsewhere in Pakistan, out of 1,912 allocated for Covid-19 patients, were occupied. Some 40,167 tests were conducted across the country on Friday, including 16,976 in Sindh, 12,735 in Punjab, 4,319 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 4,097 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,074 in Balochistan, 227 in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), and 739 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Around 295,333 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 309,581 cases were detected so far, including AJK 2,630, Balochistan 14,932, GB 3,635, ICT 16,367, KP 37,588, Punjab 98, 941 and Sindh 135,488. About 6,451 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,481 in Sindh, 2,229 in Punjab, 1,259 in KP, 181 in ICT, 145 in Balochistan, 85 in GB and 71 in AJK, one of them on Friday. A total of 3,384,186 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far, while 735 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities. Some 874 corona patients were admitted in hospitals across the country.

The health department conducted a total of 11,708 Covid-19 tests during the past 24 hours with positivity ratio of 2.3 per cent in Sindh. According to the spokesperson of Government of Sindh, Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui, out of the samples taken, 278 people were tested positive in the province.

At least 29 new coronavirus cases were reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 37,617. According to health officials, 38 more patients recovered from the deadly disease as the total jumped to 35,931. No more Covid-19 death was reported in the province during the past 24 hours. So far 1,259 patients have succumbed to the disease. Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani has warned of rising coronavirus cases in the province, saying that Covid-19 cases in Balochistan have nearly tripled since August.