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  • COAS Gen Bajwa calls Shehbaz Sharif, Sheikh Rashid to ask about health

    COAS Gen Bajwa calls Shehbaz Sharif, Sheikh Rashid to ask about health File Photo COAS Gen Bajwa calls Shehbaz Sharif, Sheikh Rashid to ask about health

    Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday telephoned Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid to inquire about their health after they tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

    While talking to the PML-N president, COAS Bajwa prayed for his early recovery.

    “Pakistan Army chief advised me to take complete rest for a full recovery,” Sheikh Rashid, who heads Pakistan Awami League, said in a statement.

    “Gen Bajwa also offered me to avail any military health facility if I feel the need at any stage,” the minister said from the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

    Earlier in the day, the PML-N president had tested positive for the virus, party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb — who, herself, was diagnosed with the respiratory disease along with her mother — confirmed.

    Shehbaz, 69, is a cancer survivor and isolating at home, Aurangzeb said, adding that the former chief minister of Punjab was following his doctors' advice on how to fight the infection.

    Long list of lawmakers

    PML-N representative Ata Tarar revealed that Shehbaz had himself tested for COVID-19 after showing mild symptoms of the infection. He said the result of the test came back positive on June 10.

    A day earlier, PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal tested positive for coronavirus. Iqbal and party spokesperson Aurangzeb joined a long list of lawmakers who have tested positive for the coronavirus, including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and PTI MPA from Sindh Khurrum Sher Zaman.

    Earlier this week, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and PTI MNA Jai Prakash had contracted the infection. Last week, PPP MPA Sharjeel Memon had announced he tested positive for coronavirus and was in self-isolation.

    The same week, PML-N Punjab Assembly lawmaker Mian Naveed Ali from Pakpattan had tested positive for coronavirus.