Coronavirus: PTI's Khurrum Sher Zaman, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal test positive

LAHORE: PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal and PTI MPA from Sindh Khurrum Sher Zaman have tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, both leaders confirmed on their social media on Wednesday.

"Today, when I got tested [for the coronavirus], the result came out positive," Zaman, the president of the ruling PTI's Karachi chapter, wrote on Twitter.

"As I was unwell, I had been in quarantine for the past five days," he noted.

Iqbal, the PML-N leader, said he was quarantining himself for two weeks. "I request my friends and well-wishers to pray for my quick recovery," Iqbal wrote on Twitter.

"May God keep everyone safe from this pandemic," he added.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif prayed for the former interior minister's health, saying he was "sad to hear about the Covid-19 infection of PMLN's General Secretary Ahsan Iqbal".

"He is not only a senior politician of the country but also an embodiment of nobility, competence, and unwavering ideological commitment," the former chief minister of Punjab wrote on Twitter.

"I pray to Allah for his speedy & complete recovery!"

According to the National Assembly Secretariat, the coronavirus tests of Senator Sana Jamali, as well as MNAs Farrukh Habib and Usman Qadri, have also come out positive.

Read more: Former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi tests positive for coronavirus

Shortly after the PML-N leader's tweet, Science Minister Fawad Chaudhry prayed for his quick recovery, adding that he should not "throw childish tantrums".

In another tweet, he wrote "the PML-N leadership had strongly rejected" his proposal for a virtual meeting of the Parliament.

"Now, not only have all those leaders contracted corona [virus] but the way things seem to be getting out of control, it seems like a large number of members [of the National Assembly] will fall sick."

"Leaders should not mislead the nation but show them the right path," Chaudhry added.

News of Iqbal contracting the respiratory illness comes just two days after former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Sources had informed Geo News at the time that the PML-N leader was isolating at his residence.

Sharif and Punjab government spokesperson Musarrat Cheema had prayed for Abbasi's speedy recovery.