Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar
Spokesperson says the Punjab chief minister has mild symptoms and is self-isolating on doctors’ orders
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday, with a spokesperson saying that he had self-isolated on doctors’ orders after exhibiting mild symptoms of the virus.
“C.M. Punjab Usman Buzdar has tested positive for COVID-19. He had mild symptoms (fever and flu) since last night and [is] in self-isolation as per the advice of doctors,” the chief minister’s focal person for digital media, Azhar Mashwani, posted on Twitter. “Request for prayers for early recovery,” he added.
Special Assistant to the Punjab C.M. on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan, meanwhile, sought to blame Buzdar’s infection on the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement. “Despite following all precautionary measures, the Punjab chief minister has tested positive,” she said, adding that this was a result of the PDM’s “conspiracy” to spread the pandemic through its public gatherings.
Punjab C.M. Buzdar attending a wedding in Lahore on Sunday.
There has been no word on whether the government is conducting contact tracing of people who attended events with Buzdar over the weekend—many of which featured him without a face mask, as is evident from pictures shared online. This included the wedding of a former senator’s daughter, as well as an event featuring British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan.
Pakistan is currently in the midst of a second wave of the novel coronavirus, with the National Command and Operation Center reporting that 82 people had died in the past 24 hours, and 1,704 new infections detected against 34,594 tests—a positivity ratio of 4.93 percent.