Khaleda Zia tests positive for Covid-19

Former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia has tested positive for Covid-19.

Khaleda Zia was tested on Saturday as part of her regular medical checkup. The test report, released on Saturday night, was positive.

Senior information officer of health ministry, Maidul Islam, confirmed the news to Prothom Alo saying that Khaleda Zia has tested positive for Covid-19.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told Prothom Alo that he saw the Covid-19 report on Khaleda Zia being positive for coronavirus on the social media. He said he is trying to reach the party’s Gulshan office and hasn’t confirmed it as yet.

However, a copy of Khaleda Zia’s Covid-19 report has gone viral on social media. Anyone can scan a QR code from the report to see the test result from the website of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

An owner of a private hospital in the capital told Prothom Alo he has been instructed to keep a ready cabin at his hospital’s Covid-19 unit for the treatment of a Covid-19 patient.

Meanwhile, the report contains a mobile number belonging to technologist Md Sabuj, a member of Khaleda Zia’s media team. He, however,has no knowledge whether Khaleda Zia has tested positive for Covid-19 or not.