Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his focal person on Covid-19 Dr Faisal Sultan and government's chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan confirmed on Twitter.

The premier was tested for SARS-CoV-2, the virus strain that causes Covid-19, today. The test used was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

"I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE," wrote Dr Sultan.

Prime Minister Imran was tested for Covid-19 after it emerged that Faisal Edhi, son of world-famous philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and chairman of the Edhi Foundation, had contracted the virus.

“Prime minister will undergo Covid-19 test as he met philanthropist Faisal Edhi who later tested positive for the deadly virus,” Dr Sultan had said on Tuesday at a news conference.

Faisal Edhi had visited the prime minister last week in Islamabad and handed over a cheque for Rs10 million to the prime minister for his coronavirus relief fund.

An official of the National Institute of Health (NIH) had said yesterday that as per the Standard Operating Procedures, all contacts of a confirmed Covid-19 patient should be tested. When asked about the definition of a contact, he said any person who had talked to a confirmed patient for 15 minutes in a closed room or stood at a distance of less than six feet was called a contact.

“Though according to Faisal Edhi he spent just a few minutes with the premier, the picture we have seen in newspapers showed that the distance between the two personalities was less than six feet. Though they did not shake hands, the virus can be transferred through cheque,” the official had said.

Meanwhile, Faisal Edhi in a video statement urged his team to continue their welfare activities, saying he would join them after having recovered from Covid-19.

Saad Edhi, a son of Faisal Edhi, told Dawn in Karachi that his father had developed Covid-19 symptoms a day after meeting Prime Minister Imran. The impact of symptoms, he added, continued for four days and then subsided. However, on Monday, he got tested in Islamabad and on Tuesday his report came as positive.

Saad said his father’s health was better and he was in self-isolation, adding that he was not admitted to any hospital.

Zulfi Bukhari's video removed

Earlier in the day, a video of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari, known as Zulfi Bukhari, saying Prime Minister Imran had tested negative for the coronavirus was removed from the PTI official Instagram account.

"Khan sahab has tested negative, thank God. I don't need to give him any suggestions [...] He knows exactly whom to meet and whom not to meet," Bukhari had said in the video shared on Wednesday afternoon.

The video, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was subsequently removed from the PTI account.

Dr Sultan had revealed earlier in the day that the premier's samples had been collected and the test results were expected soon.

In a video message, he had said: "The test takes a few hours. We will release the report through official channels once it is received."