About 500 people entered isolation in the staff quarters of India’s presidential palace on Tuesday, and Pakistan’s prime minister was due to be tested for the coronavirus.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his wife tested negative for the coronavirus, his spokesman said, after at least 20 palace officials were infected last week.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan will undergo testing after it was confirmed that the head of the country’s biggest charity organisation, Faisal Edhi, with whom he met last week, had contracted Covid-19.
In India, the alarm was raised at President Ram Nath Kovind’s residence in Delhi after the daughter-in-law of a sanitation worker living in employee quarters tested positive.
Neither Mr Kovind, 74, nor his aides would isolate themselves because they would not have come into contact with the workers, officials said. The president has a mostly ceremonial role.
The families of palace workers living in 114 apartments on the grounds were ordered to stay inside, and seven members of the sanitation worker’s family were moved to quarantine.
India’s 1.3 billion people have been ordered to stay indoors for 40 days under a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus.
Authorities have confirmed 18,984 cases of Covid-19, including 603 deaths.
It is a low toll compared with western countries with much smaller populations, although officials say a lack of testing may mean many more cases have not been reported.
An employee of India’s Parliament has also tested positive but did not go to work, an official said.
The administrative wing of the legislature reopened on Monday as part of a staggered exit from the lockdown.
While the total number of confirmed infections is rising, Indian health officials said the speed of transmission was slowing because of the lockdown, which is in place until May 3.
The number of days it takes infections to double increased to 7.5 days, from 3.4 days before the lockdown, Health Ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said.
“This is an extremely positive trend,” Mr Agarwal said.
In Pakistan, Mr Edhi said he met Mr Khan last week to present a cheque to help fund the nation’s fight against the coronavirus.
Neither was wearing a mask in a picture the government released after the meeting in Islamabad.
During a televised briefing on Tuesday, Dr Faisal Sultan, the prime minister’s personal physician and the country’s pointman for Covid-19, said Mr Khan would undergo testing.
The leader was also present at the briefing.
Mr Khan has held meetings over the past few days. He chaired a Cabinet session on Tuesday and met Mr Kovind and his intelligence chief on Monday.
Pakistan has relaxed its lockdown to allow essential industries and services to resume operations.
It also lifted restrictions on mosque congregations as the holy month of Ramadan starts this week.
In Afghanistan, Mr Ghani, 70, had limited most of his contact with staff to online after some came down with Covid-19.
“The president is healthy and is leading government efforts on all fronts,” his spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said on Twitter.
"All precautions are in place to make sure his work environment is safe and healthy."
