Ahsan Iqbal tests positive for coronavirus, again

• Ahsan Iqbal urges people to pray for his recovery.
• He asks people to wear masks, follow COVID-19 SOPs. 
• Iqbal had last tested positive for coronavirus back in June 2020.  

PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday again tested positive for coronavirus, almost a year after he had first contracted the COVID-19.

The PML-N leader, taking to Twitter, said: "I have again tested positive for COVID and have gone into quarantine."

Iqbal urged people to pray for him and asked the masses to wear masks and follow government-mandated COVID-19 SOPs to keep the virus at bay.

The PML-N leader had last tested positive for coronavirus back in June 2020.  

The development comes days after PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had announced the party's vice-president Maryam Nawaz had tested positive for coronavirus.

Maryam had gone into self-quarantine after testing positive, Aurangzeb had said, as she appealed people to pray for the PML-N leader and other people infected with the virus.

Later, the PML-N vice-president, responding to a tweet, said was being treated at home and has symptoms like "fever, cough, and flu".

Notable Pakistani politicians, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, have tested positive and recovered from the virus. 

Pakistan's COVID-19 crisis getting worse

Pakistan's fight against coronavirus continues to get worse and worse every day, with the country nearing in on 5,000 daily cases Saturday morning.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre's latest numbers, 4,950 fresh infections were detected over the last 24 hours after 58,479 COVID-19 tests were conducted.

The positivity rate jumped to 8.64%.

The nationwide death toll from coronavirus now stands 23,360 after 65 people lost their lives to the disease, while the number of recovered patients stands at 940,164 and the active cases of the country are 66,287, NCOC's stats showed.

According to a province-wise breakdown, the total number of cases in Sindh has reached 380,093, 143,673 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 356,211 in Punjab, 87,304 in Islamabad, 30,289 in Balochistan, 24,145 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 8,096 in Gilgit-Baltistan.