PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif tests positive for coronavirus

ISLAMABAD

: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his family and party confirmed on Thursday. He is the brother of former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif.

"Shehbaz Sharif has tested positive for the coronavirus. He has quarantined himself at home," tweeted PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, who herself had contracted the virus earlier this week.

Sharif is a cancer survivor and has a weak immune system, said his lawyer Attaullah Tarar, adding that he appeared before the

National Accountability Bureau

(NAB), a corruption watchdog, on June 9 in connection with investigations pertaining to money-laundering and amassing wealth beyond his means.

Sharif had filed an appeal in the high court a day before the investigators had raided his residence in

Lahore

on June 2 to arrest him following his refusal to appear before the accountability watchdog.

In a statement submitted to NAB, he said: "It has been widely reported in the media that some NAB officials have tested positive for Covid-19. Please appreciate that I am a cancer survivor and 69 years old. I have been advised limited exposure on account of the peculiar background of low immunity," he said, adding that he was available to answer any queries via Skype.

Sharif is the latest PML-N leader to have tested positive for the virus. Other members of PML-N's top-tier leadership have been diagnosed with the disease, including former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and party general secretary Ahsan Iqbal.

Railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has also contracted the virus.

Fawad Chaudhry, minister for science and technology, said about a third of lawmakers of the 342-member National Assembly are either infected or suspected to have contracted the virus. The lawmakers are currently meeting in parliament for the budget session.

In a letter to the government earlier this week, the UN health agency had suggested a two-week strict lockdown to contain the outbreak. Responding to the suggestion, health adviser Zafar Mirza said his country took the decision in the best interests of the people.

According to the country’s health ministry, the Covid-19 tally rose to 123,155 in Pakistan on Thursday. So far, 2,407 of them have died while 38,391 recovered.