Islamabad, Jul 16 (PTI) Senior Pakistani politician Maryam Nawaz said on Saturday that has tested positive for the coronavirus after back-to-back election rallies ahead of the Punjab by-elections to be held on Sunday.

Maryam, who is Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), made the announcement in a post on Twitter.

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"Covid positive!" she wrote.

"Sad to hear that Maryam baiti [and] Capt Safdar have been diagnosed with Covid. My profound prayers and best wishes are with them for an early recovery," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet.

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"The way she led the PML-N political campaign has made all of us proud," he said.

The PML-N leader has addressed several rallies in recent days as part of the party's campaign for the upcoming by-polls in Punjab.

This is not the first time Maryam has contracted the coronavirus. She previously tested positive in July last year.

Several top politicians have tested positive, including President Arif Alvi, ousted Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. All of them have recovered.

Pakistan reported 737 new Covid-19 cases and 10 fatalities in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate was recorded at 3.3 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health Services.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)