President Alvi, FM Qureshi test negative for coronavirus

ISLAMABAD: All the members of the Pakistani delegation, including President Arif Alvi and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who were tested for novel coronavirus in China have negative results, ARY News reported.

In a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, the Chinese embassy said that following the instructions of their government all the 18 members of the Pakistani official delegating, including crew members, who visited china from 16 to 17 March had received COVID-19 tests in both throat swab and blood test forms in China for two times and the results of all the tests of every member are negative.

Meanwhile, FM Qureshi said that as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, he will self-isolate for five days after his recent visit to China.

“Before leaving for China, we had a swab test done, which came back negative,” he said and added, “When we reached China, a blood and swab test was done again, which also came back negative.”

Earlier on March 17, President Dr Arif Alvi had met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping where they discussed Sino-Pak strategic relations during his ongoing visit to Beijing.

During the historic meeting, the presidents had reaffirmed its commitment to further enhance bilateral ties and take time-test friendship between Islamabad and Beijing to new heights.