Pakistan PM may get tested for COVID-19

Published - April 21, 2020 05:27 pm IST - Islamabad

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. File

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. File

Imran Khan may be tested for the COVID-19 or asked to go into isolation after meeting a well-known philanthropist who tested positive for the infection, days after meeting the Pakistan Prime Minister, his doctor said on Tuesday.

Faisal Edhi, the son of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, met Mr. Khan last week.

Mr. Khan’s personal physician and CEO of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Faisal Sultan, told media that would meet Mr. Khan on Tuesday.

“I will meet him and recommend that he gets tested. We will follow all protocols in place and make recommendations accordingly,” he said.

The protocols recommend self-isolation for people who meet those tested positive for the coronavirus.

It is not clear how Mr. Khan will run the government if he was asked to go into quarantine. He is currently working as per routine and also chaired a meeting of Cabinet.

Earlier, Saad, the son of Faisal Edhi told the Dawn newspaper that his father started showing symptoms last week, soon after meeting Mr. Khan in Islamabad on April 15.

“The symptoms lasted for four days before subsiding,” Saad said.

He added that his father was currently in Islamabad and was doing better. “He has not been admitted to any hospital and is self-isolating,” he said.

Faisal Edhi had met Prime Minister Khan to hand over a ₹10 million cheque for the PM’s coronavirus relief fund.

The Edhi Foundation was founded by the late Abdul Sattar Edhi and is the leading charity organisation in Pakistan.

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