PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq tests positive for COVID-19

LAHORE: Former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq has become the latest Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader to test positive for the coronavirus.

The party announced that Sadiq has gone into quarantine in his home after testing positive for the virus. The announcement comes a day after spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb announced that party president Shehbaz Sharif had also tested positive for coronavirus.

Earlier, PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal also tested positive for coronavirus. “I request my friends and well-wishers to pray for my quick recovery,” Iqbal had written on Twitter. “May God keep everyone safe from this pandemic,” he added.

Shehbaz Sharif replied that he was sad to hear about the COVID-19 infection of the former interior minister. “He is not only a senior politician of the country but also an embodiment of nobility, competence, and unwavering ideological commitment,” Shehbaz wrote about the party leader.

Sadiq joins a long list of lawmakers who have tested positive for the virus. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has tested positive for coronavirus and had quarantined himself at his residence

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb has also tested positive for the coronavirus along with her mother, it had emerged this week. Marriyum in a message said that she has quarantined herself and asked for the prayers.

Meanwhile, PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhary has also contracted the virus. He asked other patients to keep a positive outlook and asked his followers to pray for his health.

PTI MPA in Sindh Assembly Khurram Sher Zaman is among the list of lawmakers who have contracted the coronavirus. Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and PTI MNA Jai Prakash contracted the infection.

On Sunday, former Sindh minister Sharjeel Memon announced he had tested positive for coronavirus and had gone into self-isolation. Memon is the Sindh government’s focal person for coronavirus in Hyderabad and also attended the provincial assembly session a few days ago.

Minister of State for Narcotics Shehryar Afridi also tested positive for the virus joining a long list of lawmakers to contract the coronavirus in Pakistan.

Previously, many prominent 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 and recovered.