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Published 07:42 IST, June 9th 2020

Imran Khan's railway minister, former Pakistan PM Abbasi test postive for Covid -19

As Coronavirus cases in Pakistan crossed 1,00,000-mark, country's Railway Minister and former Prime Minister Abbasi has tested positive for the virus.

Reported by: Navashree Nandini
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As Coronavirus cases in Pakistan crossed 1,00,000-mark, country's Railway Minister and former Prime Minister has tested positive for the virus. Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad took to Twitter on Monday and informed that he has tested Covid-19 positive. He also added that he needs prayer of the people and is fine at the present moment. His office also added that he has gone into self-isolation and will remain in quarantine for two weeks as per doctors' advice.

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Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Maryam Aurangzeb confirmed that 61-year-old Shahid Abbasi has also been infected by the virus. Abbasi, who is the Senior Vice President of the PML-N, served as prime minister from August 2017 to May 2018 after his party leader Nawaz Sharif was de-seated by a court ruling in a corruption case. He has gone into self-isolation at his house after receiving the COVID-19 test report on Monday, party officials said.

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Other Pakistani leaders who tested positive for Covid-19

Since the outbreak of the virus, a number of Pakistani leaders have been infected. While fear of Covid-19 infection surrounded Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan when Faisal Edhi tested positive days after his meeting with Khan. However, Khan's test result came negative on April 22.

Other leaders who tested positive were Governor of Pakistan's southern Sindh province Imran Ismail, People's Party (PPP) leader and former provincial minister Sharjeel Memon, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's provincial lawmaker Chaudhry Ali Akhtar.

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Pakistan's Covid-19 tally

Pakistan has recorded over 100 deaths in a single day for the first time due to the coronavirus, health officials said on Tuesday. Another 4,646 new COVID-19 patents were diagnosed in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 108,317, the Ministry of Health Services said. The ministry said a total of 105 deaths were reported on Monday in the country, taking the total number of fatalities to 2,172. Official data also showed that at least 35,018 patients have fully recovered from the coronavirus.

Punjab has registered 40,819 cases, Sind 39,555, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 14,006, Balochistan 6,788, Islamabad 5,785, Gilgit-Baltistan 952 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 412. The authorities conducted a record 24,620 tests in the last 24 hours, taking the number of total tests done so far to 730,453 across the country.

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Updated 13:23 IST, June 9th 2020

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