Coronavirus: from Iran to Brazil, a growing list of politicians test positive

The Covid-19 pandemic has infected over 218,000 people globally and has not discriminated on the basis of political class or ranking. Elected officials, cabinet members, clerics and vice presidents from Australia to Iran to the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus. Here is a rundown of confirmed Covid-19 cases of policymakers and public officials across the globe. Iran The country has highest number of cases after China and Italy (+17,000), and is seeing a number of clerics and officials test positive. Some have died, while others are still hospitalised or in quarantine. 1- Ayatollah Hashem Bathayi Golpayegani, member of the Assembly of Experts, died this month 2- Hossein Sheikholeslam, advisor to Iran’s foreign minister, died this month 3- Hadi Khosroshahi, a prominent cleric and former ambassador to the Vatican, died this month 4- Seyyed Mohammad Mir Mohammadi, member of the Expediency Council, died this month 5- Mohammad Ali Ramezani, member of Parliament, died this month 6- Mojtaba Pourkhanali, an agriculture ministry official, died this month 7- Mojtaba Fazeli, an adviser to a senior cleric, died this month 8- Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tested positive 9- Eshaq Jahangiri, Vice President, tested positive 10- Ali Asghar Mounesan, minister of cultural heritage, tested positive 11- Reza Rahmani, minister of industry, tested positive 12- Massoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President, tested positive 13- Mojtaba Zolnour, member of Parliament, tested positive 14- Mahmoud Sadeghi, member of Parliament, tested positive 15- Iraj Harirchi, deputy health minister, tested positive 16- Morteza Rahmanzadeh, mayor of a Tehran district, tested positive 17- Mohamad Reza Ghadir, head of Covid-19 management in Qom, tested positive 18- Mahmoud Sadeghi, member of the parliament, tested positive 19- Mojtaba Zonnour, head of Iran's parliamentary security and foreign relations commission, tested positive 20- Grand ayatollah Musa Shobairi Zanjani, tested positive Brazil In South America, Brazil has currently the highest number of cases (509). Following a trip to the United States and a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida, at his Mar-a-Lago resort, 16 members of the Brazilian delegation have tested positive, according to Bloomberg. The country's President Jair Bolsonaro said he had tested negative, despite initial reports saying he had the virus. These names have tested positive: 1- David Alcolumbre, Head of Brazil Senate, tested positive 2- Nestor Forster, Brazil’s top US diplomat, tested positive 3- Augusto Heleno, National Security Minister, tested positive 4- Fabio Wajngarten, press secretary for the President, tested positive 5- Bento Albuquerque , Minister of Mines and Energy, tested positive Argentina's Ambassador to Venezuela Eduardo Porreti tested positive for coronavirus. In the United States, Florida has seen most cases of public officials infected with the virus. The positive cases of lawmakers are: 1- Miami mayor Francis Suarez, tested positive 2- Diaz Balart, Congressman, tested positive 3- Ben McAdams, Congressman from Utah, tested positive In Canada, the spouse of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, has tested positive. In Europe, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tested positive for the coronavirus as the country went into lockdown. The country’s Minister of Equality and the Minister of Regional Affairs also tested positive. Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias stirred controversy on Saturday when he attended a Cabinet meeting, despite his partner being infected with the virus. The first public figure in Ukraine to test positive was member of parliament Serhiy Shakhov. On Wednesday, he initially denied that he tested positive, but hours later admitted he had the disease. British Junior Health Minister Nadine Dorres tested positive, as well as French Culture Minister Franck Riester. Friedrich Merz, a candidate for chairman of Angela Merkel's conservative party CDU, is infected by the virus. Out of every European country, Italy has been worst impacted by the outbreak, where it has killed nearly 2,978 people - nearly as much as in China. Italian MP Claudio Pedrazzini was the country's first parliamentarian to be diagnosed. Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of Italian governing coalition’s Democratic Party also tested positive. In Asia, Philippines senator Juan Miguel "Migz" Fernández Zubiri, tested positive for the disease, local media reported. Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton also tested positive.