Prime Minister Imran Khan has thanked the people for their good wishes for early recovery from the Covid-19 infection.
In a tweet on Sunday, the prime minister also thanked the people for prayers. “I want to thank everyone in Pakistan & abroad for their good wishes and prayers for the quick recovery of the first lady and I from Covid 19,” he said in a tweet from his official handle.
Late Saturday night, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was in “good health” after contracting Covid-19 and was self-isolating.
“We are monitoring parameters of his health, and at present, he did not need a direct intervention,” Arab News quoted him as saying.
After him, Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that he has met the premier, who is “fit and doing well”.
“The best advice that we could give him was to stay at home, isolate, and rest,” he said in view of the fact that the prime minister only experienced “mild symptoms”.
“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.”
The premier’s tweet on Sunday comes after Indian PM Modi, Sri Lankan PM Rajapaksa and other foreign officials wished him a fast recovery.
Indian Premier Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and several other foreign officials also wished PM Imran a speedy recovery from Covid-19.
Similarly, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill in a tweet on Sunday said: “The prime minister and Bushra Bibi are thankful to you all for your good wishes”.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Imran, along with First Lady Bushra Bibi, tested positive for coronavirus. The news comes two days after the premier was vaccinated against the virus. However, the premier had received his first dose and not the second jab for the vaccine.
PM Imran, 68, received his first of the two prescribed shots of a coronavirus vaccine on Thursday. When news of him testing positive for the contagious disease came out, the rumour mills went abuzz with speculation that the prime minister contracted the disease after vaccination.
But health experts say it is likely Khan was infected prior to being vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), national health agency of the United States, says the vaccine does not infect patients with the disease, but those who may have contracted the virus before they are vaccinated can become ill after a shot because it takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity.
However, the NHS, soon after the news broke out, clarified that Khan had not been “fully vaccinated” when he was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
It said that the prime minister had only received the first dose of the vaccine and that too merely two days ago, further explaining that the time frame was too soon for any vaccine to become effective. Antibodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose of 2-dose Covid vaccines.
PM Imran was administered the vaccine dose during the second phase of the vaccination process in the country in which people over 60 years of age are receiving shots.
He has been holding regular and frequent meetings lately, including attending a security conference, Islamabad Security Dialogue, held in Islamabad that was attended by a large number of people.
He addressed the conference without wearing a mask and attended another gathering to inaugurate the Naya Pakistan housing project in a similar fashion on Friday.
A number of high-profile politicians, including ministers, have tested positive for the contagious disease since it was first detected in the country in February last.
Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari are among the politicians who contracted the disease so far.
