Qureshi moved to military hospital after testing positive for virus

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been moved to Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, Geo News reported on Saturday, citing sources.

A day earlier the foreign minister had announced he had tested positive for the virus and had gone into isolation.

“This afternoon I felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined myself at home. I have now tested positive for COVID-19,” the foreign minister had said in a Twitter post.

“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 added.

Qureshi joins a long list of lawmakers who have contracted the virus.

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 coronavirus, while a week earlier than that PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said she has tested positive.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, 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.

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 last month after being on the ventilator for a few days.