Pakistan parliament speaker tests positive for coronavirus

Pakistan's parliamentary speaker, Asad Qaiser, announced late Thursday that he had tested positive for coronavirus.

He was tested after hosting an iftar dinner to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, and meeting Prime Minister Imran Khan and other top officials earlier in the week, according to Reuters.

“I have quarantined myself at home,” Qaiser, who is also a close aide to Khan, said on Twitter. Qaiser met with the prime minister on Monday, and has met several other leading Pakistani politicians during the past few days.

It is not yet known if Prime Minister Khan will be tested again for coronavirus. He previously tested negative for coronavirus in April, after meeting with the head of Pakistan’s biggest charity organisation, who was infected with the coronavirus.

The National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, is currently suspended, though opposition parties have been calling for it to convene to discuss the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan has risen to 16,817, including 385 deaths.