Pakistan Foreign Minister tests positive for Covid-19, moved to Military hospital

PTI, Jul 5, 2020, 9:13 AM IST

Rawalpindi: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was shifted to a military hospital in Rawalpindi on Saturday, July 4 a day after he tested positive for the coronavirus and went into self-isolation.

Qureshi on Friday announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a long list of Pakistani lawmakers who have contracted the deadly virus.

“I have now tested positive for Covid-19. By the grace of Allah, I feel strong and energetic. I will continue to carry on my duties from home. Please keep me in your prayers,” he said in a tweet.

Qureshi has been moved to Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, the Geo News reported on Saturday, citing sources.

Two weeks ago, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Syed Aminul Haq had tested positive for the coronavirus, while a week earlier than that PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said she had tested positive.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Jai Prakash, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of State for Narcotics Shehryar Afridi and PTI’s chief whip in the National Assembly Aamir Dogar have also been diagnosed with COVID-19.

In June, Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Munir Khan Orakzai died, days after recovering from the coronavirus.

Eight members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have been infected with the coronavirus. National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser was also infected but recovered.

Pakistan reported 3,387 new coronavirus infections and 68 deaths on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the country to 225,283. The death toll stands at 4,619, according to official figures on Saturday.