Pakistan confirms sixth coronavirus case, 823 quarantined in Sindh
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The Pakistani consulate in Herat, Afghanistan announced the closure of visa services from March 8 due to the virus
Pakistan has a total of six confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The third patient who tested positive in Karachi is a 69-year-old who had recently returned from Iran, said Meeran Yousuf, spokesperson of the Sindh health department to WION.
"The patient is currently in isolation at a hospital, while his family members have been quarantined for the time being," she said, adding that there are now three confirmed cases of coronavirus in Sindh.
Taking note of the case, Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah directed officials to trace and test all those who have been in contact with the patient.
In response to a question, Meeran told WION that a total of 823 people have been quarantined in Sindh alone, 68 among these have had their tests done out of which three have tested positive for Covid19, reports of two more patients who are currently under suspicion of contracting the virus is due on Friday.
A total of six people have been tested positive for coronavirus in Pakistan since February 26, with two having tested positive in Sindh, one in Gilgit-Baltistan and the rest three were from Karachi. All those who have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus have had a travel history of Iran, a huge number of pilgrims from Pakistan travel to Iran for religious pilgrimage.
Taking to Twitter, the Advisor to Pakistani Prime Minister Zafar Mirza tweeted, “6th Case of coronavirus in Pakistan is confirmed. The patient is clinically stable in Sindh and is being well taken care of.”
236/ 6th case of #coronavirus in Pakistan is confirmed. The patient is in clinically stable condition in Sindh and is being well taken care of.
— Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) March 5, 2020
Meanwhile, the Pakistani consulate in Herat, Afghanistan announced the closure of visa services from March 8, Sunday, for an initial period of 15 days due to the coronavirus situation, a statement issued from Pakistani embassy in Kabul said adding that the situation will be monitored and decision to reopen the consulate will be taken in consultation with Afghan authorities.
Pakistan has already closed its borders with Iran, the border with China is set to open in April, an earlier decision to reopen the Pak-China border in February was scrapped while the Pakistan-Afghan border at Chaman remains closed due to the coronavirus situation.
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