Sindh spokesperson Murtaza Wahab diagnosed with COVID-19
June 20, 2020
Sindh spokesperson Murtaza Wahab has been diagnosed with COVID-19, joining a long, unfortunate list of lawmakers to have been hit with the coronavirus — a few even succumbing to it.
According to a statement by Wahab, he has put himself under quarantine after test results came back positive today.
He said he has no symptoms currently and is feeling alright, but requests all friends and well-wishers to pray for him.
The development comes two days after Wahab released a video statement, urging people to not think of the virus as "a joke".
"Every day I see people using masks in every possible manner but not in the manner that they are supposed to use and wear masks," he wrote.
"You have to cover your nose and your mouth with the mask," he strongly urged anyone reading or listening to his message.
Lawmakers increasingly falling victim to COVID-19
Earlier, on Tuesday, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Syed Aminul Haq confirmed he has tested positive for COVID-19.
A day prior to that, PPP leader Syeda Shehla Raza tested positive for the coronavirus, requesting people to pray for her recovery.
A week ago, PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif tested positive for coronavirus, party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had confirmed.
Shehbaz, 69, is a cancer survivor, Aurangzeb had said, adding that the PML-N leader was following his doctors' advice on how to fight the infection.
Former prime minister and senior PPP leader Yousuf Raza Gilani also tested positive for the coronavirus last week. In a tweet, his son alleged that the Imran Khan-led government and National Accountability Bureau endangered the life of his father by summoning him in a corruption reference.
On a positive note, over the course of the last few weeks, several lawmakers have recovered from the deadly disease.
These include Minister for Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani.
A few, however, have unfortunately died from it, including Shaheen Raza, a PTI lawmaker in the Punjab Assembly who succumbed to coronavirus in May and Sindh Minister for Human Settlement Haji Ghulam Murtaza Baloch who passed away earlier this month.
