PPP supremo Asif Zardari tests positive for COVID-19

ISLAMABAD: PPP supremo and former president Asif Ali Zardari has tested positive for Covid-19 with mild symptoms, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto said Thursday.

Sharing the news on his Twitter handle, Bilawal said that the party's co-chairman was not only vaccinated but had also received booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine — which enhances immunity against the virus.

"He is fully vaccinated, boosted, isolating with mild symptoms and undergoing treatment. We are praying for his swift recovery," Bilawal added.

His daughter, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, said that when he landed in Dubai a four days back, his PCR was positive, but now his symptoms were mild — and he is resting.

"Thank u 4 your prayers & remind everyone to remain precautions," she said.

The news of Zardari becoming the infection's latest victim comes as Pakistan posted the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the last 20 days, with eight people succumbing to the virus in a single day, National Institute of Health, Islamabad's (NIH) data showed Thursday morning.

As per the latest stats, the COVID-19 positivity rate in Pakistan stands at 3.65%. As many as 761 new COVID-19 infections were detected after testing on 20,843 samples, taking the country's total coronavirus case count to 1,552,632.