Asad Umar wishes Bilawal well, hopes PPP chief will urge voters and leaders to implement health guidelines

ISLAMABAD: Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Thursday wished PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari well after it emerged that he had tested positive for coronavirus. 

"I hope and pray that Bilawal will recover soon," Asad Umar wrote on Twitter, urging the PPP chairperson to urge everyone — especially his party's leaders, voters and workers — to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 precautions.

"Now that you have contracted coronavirus, I also hope that you will urge all the leaders, workers, and voters of your party to be extra careful and follow the precautions as advised by the doctors," the federal minister added.

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz also wished Bilawal well, sending him "prayers and best wishes".

"May Allah restore you to perfect health soonest. Ameen," she said.

Earlier in the day, the PPP boss had announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, saying he was "self isolating with mild symptoms".

"I‘ll continue working from home & will be addressing PPP foundation day via video link," he wrote in his tweet.

Bilawal Bhutto also advised people to wear a mask in order to protect themselves and others from the deadly illness, which has led to the deaths of close to 8,000 people in Pakistan.

"See you on the other side," the PPP chief said.

Read more: PPP's Bilawal Bhutto goes into self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus

A day prior, Bilawal's political secretary Jameel Soomro had tested positive for coronavirus. Sources had said the entire staff of Bilawal House Karachi was also directed to undergo COVID-19 tests on the directives issued by former president Asif Ali Zardari.

The staff, including security personnel, will not be allowed inside without a PCR test report. Zardari's directives came ahead of the engagement ceremony of his daughter, Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, on Friday.

Also read: Bilawal House staffers to undergo coronavirus tests as PPP chief's political secretary tests positive

Ministers and other leaders of the incumbent ruling party, the PTI, also joined in sending well wishes to Bilawal Bhutto after he contracted the coronavirus.

"I hope PDM leadership will review their insistence on public gatherings and cancel Jalsas," wrote Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

"Virtual Jalsas can be good alternative," he added, using the #COVIDSecondWave hashtag.

Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz prayed for Bilawal’s quick recovery and appealed to the Opposition to take care of everyone’s health.

"Caution is necessary for everyone to stay safe from the pandemic [as] coronavirus makes no distinction between people of the nation and its leaders," Faraz said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra advised everyone sitting with the PPP chief at the PDM gathering in Peshawar to get themselves tested.

"To everyone sitting on stage at the PDM jalsa, if in Pakhtunkhwa please call on 1700 KP Corona helpline & get yourself tested through our rapid response teams," Jhagra said, adding that all tests were free of charge.