Pakistan reports new coronavirus cases
Islamabad: Pakistan has confirmed two more cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the infected people in the country to four, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza has said.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mirza said that one of the new cases emerged in south Sindh province while the other one is being treated in Islamabad, Xinhua reported.
The infected man in Karachi of Sindh province has been shifted to the isolation ward of a hospital and his medical treatment is underway, Meeran Yousuf, media coordinator to health minister of Sindh told Xinhua on Saturday, adding that the infected patient is stable.
Talking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, an official in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad confirmed that a man has been tested positive of the disease in the hospital, bringing the total number of the coronavirus infected people in their isolation ward to two.
The official said that the newly infected man is in stable condition and his family members have also been put in quarantine. However, he refused to share more details about the age and travelling history of the patient.
Pakistan started taking measures to avoid penetration of the disease from Iran on Sunday after the situation of the disease turned serious in the country, by closing its border with Iran. Later, the direct flight service was also suspended between the two countries.
The Pakistani government is now launching an awareness campaign by activating a telephone helpline and establishing a web portal to encourage people to report about their condition if they are suffering from fever and flu, enabling the government to trace them and conduct necessary lab tests.