Minorities commission head Cheela Ram contracts COVID-19

Chairman of the National Minorities Commission, Cheela Ram contracted COVID-19 on Wednesday, a week after he met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and delegations from Islamabad and Peshawar, Geo News reported.

According to Ram, he experienced mild symptoms of the virus after which he decided to get himself tested for COVID-19.

The chairman had last week met FM Qureshi as well as various delegations in Peshawar and Islamabad.

A day earlier, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb had tested positive for the coronavirus along with her mother.

She joined a long list of lawmakers who have tested positive for the virus, including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Pakistani lawmakers test positive for COVID-19

On Monday, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and PTI MNA Jai Prakash also tested positive for coronavirus.

On Sunday, PPP MPA Sharjeel Memon announced he had tested positive for coronavirus and had gone into self-isolation.

Last week, PML-N Punjab Assembly lawmaker Mian Naveed Ali from Pakpattan had tested positive for coronavirus.

Earlier, Minister of State for Narcotics Shehryar Afridi tested positive for the virus joining a long list of lawmakers to contract the coronavirus in Pakistan. PTI's chief whip in the National Assembly Aamir Dogar also tested positive for coronavirus.

Previously, many politicians including ANP’s Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, and Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari had tested positive for coronavirus, after which they went into self-isolation and recovered.

PTI Punjab Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Shaheen Raza was the first lawmaker in the country to succumb to the virus.

PTI MPA Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel from Nowshera and PML-N MPA Shaukat Manzoor Cheema from Gujranwala also passed away earlier this month after being on the ventilator for a few days.