Covid-19: Pak PM Imran, First Lady feeling 'comfortable with mild symptoms'

Prime Minister Imran Khan and First Lady Bushra Bibi are feeling "comfortable with mild symptoms", his top communication aide said on Sunday, a day after they tested positive for the COVID-19.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill, in a tweet in Urdu, said that the prime minister and the first lady are thankful to their well-wishers for their good wishes.

Khan, 68 will continue to perform his official duties via video conferencing, he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and First Lady Bashari Imran are comfortable with mild symptoms, he said in the tweet.

According to Geo News, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said that Khan was "fit and doing well".

"The best advice that we could give him was to stay at home, isolate, and rest.

"We are monitoring his clinical parameters, and medical treatment will be given to him if required. Right now, there is no need for any treatment, as such," Sultan said.

He said that the government is in touch with the people the premier met over the last few days.

"We will be contact tracing everyone and request all the individuals that met him to isolate themselves," Sultan added.

Khan contracted the coronavirus on Saturday, a day when the country registered the highest number of COVID-19 cases since July last year.

He was vaccinated on Thursday as part of the nationwide anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign which is underway in its first phase.

Khan is reported to have received the first shot of the Chinese-produced Sinopharm vaccine, the only anti-COVID jab available in Pakistan.

Pakistan started its COVID-19 vaccination drive in February after the first arrival of China-gifted vaccine doses, with frontline health workers given the priority for inoculation, while on March 10, the country started vaccination for the general public, starting with people aged 60 and above, Geo News reported.

Issuing a clarification on Khan's vaccination, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said that antibodies develop two to three weeks after the 2nd dose of the 2-dose COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker, Pakistan has so far reported 626,802 cases and 13,843 deaths.