Two AJK ministers tested positive with spike in COVID-19 cases

MUZAFFARABAD: Two Azad Kashmir ministers have been reported COVID-19 positive with spike in coronavirus cases in the region, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Local administration has imposed smart lockdown at five places after resurgence of coronavirus cases.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Farooq Ahmed Tahir and college education minister Waqar Ahmed Noor have been reported COVID-19 positive.

The government authorities have notified imposing smart lockdown at five areas in the region.

According to the government notification, smart lockdown has been clamped at Officers Colony Narol, Domel Taameer-e-Nau School street, Officers Colony Jalalabad, Rizwan School’s street and the street behind Saif Plaza.

Fourteen more people died from coronavirus-related complications in the country over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 6,601.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 471 fresh infections surfaced when 28,022 samples were tested during this period, lifting the national tally of cases to 320,463.

Around 305,080 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan with addition of 471 recoveries recorded over the previous 24 hours. There are a total of 8,782 active cases of Covid-19 in the country. Of the total patients under treatment, 518 are said to be in critical condition.

A total of 39,43,734 tests have been conducted so far.

So far, Sindh has reported 140,756 cases, Punjab 101,014, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 38,427, Balochistan 15,577, Islamabad 17,526, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 3,198, and Gilgit Baltistan 3,965.

On October 13, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had stressed that the implementation of precautionary measures is vital to ward off the possible second wave of the novel coronavirus.

Chairing a meeting of NCOC, he said the use of face masks is mandatory and enforcement of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in educational institutions and banquet halls will be strictly monitored.