LAHORE: As the country battles a fifth wave of the epidemic, Shahbaz Sharif, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, has tested positive for coronavirus again, according to PML-N spokesman Marriyum Aurangzeb. According to official numbers provided on Wednesday morning, active coronavirus infections in Pakistan increased from 39,881 to 44,717 in the last 24 hours, reaching their highest level since October 6. The PML-N president, a cancer survivor, who had last tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2020, is now isolated at home and resting as per his doctor’s advice, Aurangzeb said in a statement. “Shahbaz Sharif has asked the masses and PML-N workers to pray for his health,” she added. In recent days, President Arif Alvi and Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood had tested positive for coronavirus again as well. The president has recovered from the virus six days after testing positive. Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, the director-general of health, had warned that coronavirus infections in Pakistan are doubling every week on average and could strain the country’s healthcare system in two weeks’ time. In the last 24 hours, the country registered a positivity ratio at 9.48% as 5,472 new cases were detected after 57,669 tests were conducted, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the forum leading Pakistan’s COVID response. Eight new deaths pushed the death toll to 29,037, while new infections have taken the caseload to 1.34 million, the NCOC’s data showed. The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), meanwhile, has expressed concerns regarding the worsening coronavirus situation in the country. In a statement released on Tuesday, the medical organisation asked that the government immediately prohibit political demonstrations, sit-ins, and other public gatherings. The group also cautioned that the coronavirus situation in the United States could worsen in the next two to three weeks and that the Omicron version could grow more dangerous.