Pakistan minister Saeed Ghani tests positive for coronavirus

KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has been diagnosed with novel coronavirus.

The provincial minister, who has been leading the fight against the disease in Sindh, took to Twitter to confirm he contracted the COVID-19.

Ghani further said he will go into self-isolation despite having no apparent symptoms.

گذشتہ روز میں نے کورونا وائرس کا ٹیسٹ کروایا جسکی رپورٹ مثبت آئی ہے تاحال جو Symptoms اس وائرس کے بتائے جاتے ہیں ان میں سے مجھے کچھ محسوس نہیں ہورہا اور میں خود کو بالکل صحتمند محسوس کررہا ہوں اور اپنی ذمہ داریاں گھر پر isolation میں رہ کر ادا کررہا ہوں۔ شہری بھی گھروں پر رہیں pic.twitter.com/2vzS7qt0SY

— Senator Saeed Ghani (@SaeedGhani1) March 23, 2020

This came on the first day of a 15-day lockdown announced by the Sindh government in the province in an attempt to slow down the spread of the virus.

The overall number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan increased to 824, including 352 from Sindh. The death toll currently stood at six.

The announcement of the lockdown was made by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Sunday and the measure took effect from Monday morning. “There is only one way to curtail its spread, as this virus transfers from one person to another very fast, so we need to minimise people s interaction,” he said in a video message.

Shah further said that his administration will try to make sure food is supplied in shops, adding that they were trying to ensure that if someone wanted to step out to buy groceries, they would able to do so once in a two-day period.