Punjab Assembly deputy speaker tests positive for coronavirus

Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Sardar Dost Mohammad Mazari has tested positive for the coronavirus.

In a video message on Sunday, Mazari said that he has kept himself isolated and is taking all safety measures.

He asked everyone to pray for him and said he is not experiencing any symptoms.

The deputy speaker said that he had first tested negative on April 28. A week later, however, he tested positive for COVID-19.

Mazari has joined, what is increasingly becoming a long list of government representatives falling prey to the disease.

These include Sindh governor Imran Ismail, who has twice tested positive; Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani, who has since recovered; and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser.

Prior to that, PPP lawmaker Rana Hamir Singh, of Sindh Assembly, tested positive for COVID-19.

PTI's MPA from Mardan, Abdul Salam Afridi, had tested also positive for the novel virus. Afridi has recovered now.

MPA Syed Abdul Rasheed of Sindh Assembly also contracted positive for the virus, as did eight of his family members, reportedly.