Srinagar
Hours after his tweet linking Kashmir to the global lock-down, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will have to undergo the swab test for Covid-19. The test has become mandatory in wake of the fact that one of the key executives of a philanthropic group who met him last week has tested positive, reports in Pakistani and the Meddle eastern media said.
Dr Faisal Sultan, Khan’s personal physician, who also heads Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital told Pakistan newspaper The Dawn saying that he will recommend a test. “As soon as he is finished, I will meet him and recommend that he gets tested,” Sultan was quoted saying. “We will follow all protocols in place and make recommendations accordingly.”
The development came minutes after, Faisal Edhi, son of world-famous philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, tested positive for the Coronavirus. Faisal Edhi along with two businessmen had called on Khan and presented him a cheque of Rs10 million for the Prime Minister’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. Neither of the four – the three visitors and Khan, wore masks or hand gloves. The news of Eidhi junior being infect broke at a time when Khan was presiding over a cabinet meeting.
Interestingly, Khan was seen without any protective gear in the cabinet meeting. In case, he proved infected, Pakistan’s entire cabinet will have to be tested for the Covid-19.
Saad Edhi, Faisal’s son was quoted by Gulf News saying that his father started suffering from symptoms last week, soon after he travelled to Islamabad to meet Khan on April 15. “The symptoms lasted for four days before subsiding,” he said. Soon after, Faisal got tested for Covid-19 and the results came back positive today. Eidhi is currently in self-isolation and not in the hospital, the newspaper said.
“Initially, I had a fever and headaches. These symptoms lasted for three days,” Edhi Foundation chairman was quoted saying by the Gulf News. “Currently, I do not have any symptoms but my test results have come back positive,” said Faisal, adding that he has been directed to self-isolate for the next week. He said he was with Khan for seven minutes.
Interestingly, the development came minutes after Khan was in news for his tweet that linked Kashmir with the global lockdown. “Demonstrations in various parts of the world are now going on against lockdowns during a pandemic — despite [provision] of medical, financial, communication & food assistance. Perhaps now [international] community can understand the suffering of Kashmiris…,” he had said in one of his many tweets, according to the Dawn.
