Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tests positive for COVID-19, quarantines self

Islamabad: Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday he had tested positive for COVID-19, days after holding high-profile meetings including one with US special representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad. “This afternoon I felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined myself at home,” Qureshi said on Twitter. He said he felt healthy and would carry on his duties from home. In the past few days, Qureshi has had contact with Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan in parliament and in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Qureshi also met Khalilzad on Wednesday when the US special representative travelled to Pakistan to discuss progress on the Afghan peace process. Pictures released from those meetings showed Qureshi and others wearing face masks. The US state department did not comment. Pakistan has reported 221,896 cases of the coronavirus and 4,451 deaths. The country has continued to see around 4,000 new cases on a daily basis, despite daily testing numbers falling. A number of high officials have tested positive for COVID-19 in Pakistan, including Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed and the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Asad Qaiser.