Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for coronavirus, two days after he got his first shot of vaccination.
Imran Khan is “self isolating at home,” Pakistan’s health minister Faisal Sultan said in a tweet on Saturday.
Khan received the first shot of vaccination against COVID-19 on Friday. He reportedly had shown symptoms of Covid-19 on the same day he was administered the first dose of the vaccine.
The prime minister had urged the citizens of his country to ensure the full implementation of norms to prevent the surge in cases of coronavirus. He was vaccinated as part of the nationwide anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign which is underway in its first phase.
In Pakistan, the COVID-19 vaccine is being provided to people 60 years of age and above and to front-line health workers.
Pakistan on Thursday also imposed smart lockdowns in areas worst hit by the coronavirus as the country recorded a sharp increase in the positive cases. The rise in the cases came as the second batch of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccines sent by China reached Pakistan on Wednesday.
Pakistan officials last week said that the country was hit by the third wave of the pandemic.
All markets, shopping malls, offices, and restaurants will remain closed in the areas of smart lockdown. However, grocery stores, hospitals, pharmacies, bakeries, meat and milk shops will be allowed to remain open.
Punjab province Health Minister Yasmin Rashid said that smart lockdowns are imposed in Gujrat, Sialkot, and Hafizabad, which will remain in effect till March 30 in Gujrat, March 24 in Sialkot and March 26 in Hafizabad.
The fresh measures were taken as Pakistan recorded the highest 3,495 new coronavirus cases in a single-day after three months as the national tally of infections reached 615,810 on Thursday, according to the official data. It is the highest number of new cases in a day since December 6 last year when 3,795 cases were recorded, according to the ministry of National Health Services reported.