ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have tested positive for coronavirus and are self-isolating, State Minister for Health Dr Faisal Sultan and Senator Faisal Javed Khan announced on Saturday.
Khan is “self isolating at home,” Dr Sultan said in a tweet.
PM Imran Khan has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self isolating at home
— Faisal Sultan (@fslsltn) March 20, 2021
Faisal said in a tweet, “First Lady Bushra Bibi has also been tested positive for Covid-19.”
The development comes two days after the prime minister, 68, received a Covid-19 jab with the Sinopharm vaccine.
Earlier in the day, health experts had said that it is likely Khan was infected prior to being vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), national health agency of the United States, says the vaccine does not infect patients with the disease, but those who may have contracted the virus before they are vaccinated can become ill after a shot because it takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity.
However, the health ministry, soon after the news broke out, clarified that the premier had not been “fully vaccinated” when he was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
The health ministry clarified that the premier had only received the first dose of the vaccine and that too merely two days ago, further explaining that the time frame was too soon for any vaccine to become effective. Antibodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose of 2-dose Covid vaccines.
According to local media reports experts have said that one cannot get Covid-19 from a vaccine.
The prime minister was administered the vaccine dose during the second phase of the vaccination process in the country in which people over 60 years of age are receiving shots.
He has been holding regular and frequent meetings lately, including attending a security conference, Islamabad Security Dialogue, held in Islamabad that was attended by a large number of people.
He addressed the conference without wearing a mask and attended another gathering to inaugurate the Naya Pakistan housing project in a similar fashion on Friday.
A number of high-profile politicians, including ministers, have tested positive for the contagious disease since it was first detected in the country in February last.
Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari are among the politicians who contracted the disease so far.
Senator Faisal earlier in the day announced that the prime minister will be taking calls from the public again soon.
Taking to Twitter, Faisal said a time and date for the second round of calls will be announced soon, adding that the conversations between members of the public and the premier will be broadcast simultaneously on television, radio and digital media.
#آپکا_وزیراعظم_آپکے_ساتھ وزیراعظم عمران خان سے فون پر براہِ راست بات کریں – آپکے سوالات اور وزیراعظم کےجواب
ٹیلیویژن،ریڈیو اورڈیجیٹل میڈیا پر ایکساتھ نشر کیے جائینگے- وقت اورتاریخ کااعلان جلد کیا جائیگا-وزیراعظم عمران خان نے گزشتہ ماہ بھی عوام سےبذریعہ فون ڈائریکٹ بات کی تھی— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) March 20, 2021
However, the engagement event planned earlier had to be postponed after the prime minister tested positive for the coronavirus.
The prime minister had done a similar event earlier in February wherein he took calls from citizens for around 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa wished Imran a speedy recovery from coronavirus.
The India PM, taking to Twitter, said, “Best wishes to Prime Minister Imran Khan for a speedy recovery from Covid-19.”
Rajapaksa said, “Wishing Prime Minister Imran Khan a speedy and full recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with him during this time of difficulty.”
PM’S HEALTH:
Later in the day, Dr Faisal said that he has met the premier, who is “fit and doing well”.
“The best advice that we could give him was to stay at home, isolate, and rest,” he said, in view of the fact that the premier only has “mild symptoms”.
“We are monitoring his clinical parameters and medical treatment will be given to him if required. Right now, there is no need for any treatment as such.”
He said the government is in touch with the people, who met with the premier over the last few days. “We will be contact tracing everyone and request all the individuals that met him to isolate themselves,” he added.
According to data released by the government, 3,876 people tested positive in the last 24 hours — the highest number of daily infections since early July — taking the total number of infections country past 620,000.
There were also 42 more deaths, taking the total to 13,799.
The government launched vaccinations for the general public on March 10, starting with elderly people after seeing a poor response from frontline healthcare workers, who expressed concerns about Chinese vaccines.
Chinese Sinopharm and CanSinoBio, Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines have been approved for emergency use.
May Allah give you good health and may you recover soon Mr. Prime Minister. Pakistan needs you.
Chinese vaccines are working well. Third batch of vaccines are expected sooner than later?
Indian made vaccines specially for Pakistan also contribute more than Chinese at the earliest.
Hey Ish Sab Sukhi Ho Koi Naa Ho Dukhari;
Sab Ho Nirog Bhagwan Dhan Dhaanya Ke Bhandari;
Sab Bhadra Bhav Dekhe Sanmarga Ke Pathik Ho;
Dukhiya Naa Koi Hoy Duniya Mein Praan Dhari;
Hey Ish Sab Sukhi Ho Koi Naa Ho Dukhari.
Get wll soon, IK & his family.
Once upon a time a sheep and his sheepee are confident that they are immune to knife genes and genetically hard to crack by knife cutter genes! Alas, and until separated by a knife!
No masks, no lockdowns, no vaccination requests for all sheep?