Asad Umar isolating at home after testing positive for Covid-19.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has tested positive for the coronavirus, he said on Friday night.

"Just got my covid test result and it is positive. Will be isolating at home," Umar tweeted.

Umar is also heading the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) - a national body that includes civil, military and health experts and which was formed to strategise against and defeat the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Several politicians, including Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari have tested positive for the virus since the first case emerged in the country in February.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra also tested positive earlier and have since recovered.

Virus situation

The second wave of the coronavirus has intensified in the country since November with Pakistan reporting a record number of daily deaths earlier this week, figures not seen since the peak of the virus during the summer.

A day earlier, data from the National Command and Operation Centre...