President Arif Alvi tests COVID positive again

President Arif Alvi on Thursday said that he has once again tested positive for COVID-19.

In a post on Twitter, the president said: "I have tested [positive] for COVID again. Had a sore throat since 4-5 days & was getting better. Felt mildly feverish for a few hours two nights ago. No other symptoms."

President Alvi advised everyone to "please resume precautions and follow [safety protocols]".

President Alvi had first tested coronavirus positive in March 2021.

He had announced on March 29 that he had tested positive, a few days after receiving his first coronavirus jab.

"I have tested positive for COVID-19. May Allah have mercy on all Covid affectees. Had 1st dose of vaccine but antibodies start developing after 2nd dose that was due in a week. Please continue to be careful," he had tweeted.

Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity ratio exceeds 2%

Alvi's tweet comes as Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity ratio exceeded 2% for the first time since October 14 last year, as 1,085 new infections were detected during the last 24 hours.

On October 14, 2021, the positivity ratio stood at 2.03%.

Statistics issued by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) today showed that the new cases pushed the positivity rate to 2.32%. This marks a 0.5% increase in Wednesday's ratio, which was 1.8%.

However, NCOC chief Asad Umar said that despite the country recording a rapid surge in infections over the last two weeks the government has no intention of imposing a coronavirus lockdown for now.

"For now, we are closely monitoring the numbers from Pakistan and across the globe; we are emphasising on vaccinations," the federal minister for planning, development and special initiatives told Geo News.

He highlighted that instead of lockdowns, the government is focusing on ramping up vaccinations and strict implementation of the bans placed earlier on certain activities if one is not vaccinated.