–First COVID-19 case reported in Islamabad woman who recently arrived from US
–Two new cases diagnosed in Karachi pushing Sindh’s tally to 17
ISLAMABAD: Three new cases of the coronavirus have been diagnosed in Pakistan, including Islamabad’s first and second locally transmitted case in Karachi, on Saturday, pushing the country’s tally to 31.
A woman, who had recently arrived in the federal capital from the United States, was tested positive at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the health facility’s spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja confirmed.
The patient is in critical condition and has been put on ventilator, he added.
Meanwhile, two new cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Sindh, pushing the provincial tally to 17.
One patient recently returned from Saudi Arabia while the other patient’s father has a travel history of the United Kingdom and transmitted the virus to his young child, Secretary Health Zahid Abbasi told Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah during the meeting of coronavirus task force.
The provincial health department has also taken the samples of second patient’s father. Both cases are from Karachi.
Sindh now has two locally transmitted cases of COVID-19, a mysterious pneumonia-like disease caused by the coronavirus, the chief minister was informed.
“This is why I am continuously pursuing the matter to contain coronavirus,” he said and added that this was why he was banning all kinds of social, political and religious gatherings across Sindh.
The first patient, a 38-year-old man from the Sindh capital, had arrived from Saudi Arabia a few days ago and was tested positive on Saturday.
Two individuals tested positive earlier have recovered while 15 are currently being treated at different health facilities.
As part of precationary measures, the Sindh government has closed all educational institutions till May 30.
The federal government, a day earlier, decided to adopt a number of precautionary measures to contain the spread of novel coronavirus including sealing the country’s western border with Iran and Afghanistan and cancelling the Pakistan Day parade scheduled for March 23.
The National Security Committee (NSC) meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, was attended by the provincial chief ministers and the civilian and military leadership.
The huddle decided that all educational institutions in the country will be closed till April 5, while Pakistan’s border entry points with Afghanistan and Iran will be closed for two weeks.
In a series of tweets, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said that all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutions and seminaries will remain closed till April 5. He said that the situation regarding the closure of all educational institutions in the country would be reviewed by the Ministry of Education on March 27, and further decisions will be taken after that.
Speaking about the ongoing examinations of 9th grade in Punjab, the minister said that respective schools and boards shall ensure that arrangements are made for the exams to be taken as per schedule.
According to an order issued by the NSC, the border closure would come into effect on March 16 “in the best interest of all three brotherly countries”.
It was decided during the meeting that only three airports in the country — Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore — will be allowed to operate international flights in limited numbers, while other airports will only allow domestic flights.
The pilgrims who have returned to the country from Iran will be screened again, and will be placed under quarantine if they test positive for the virus.
Officials said foreign missions in Pakistan and Pakistan’s missions abroad have been directed not to host any ceremonies or functions. Similarly, large public gatherings will be discouraged.
The NSC decided to give the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) the lead role in dealing with the coronavirus threat, adding that the authority will coordinate with the provincial governments to streamline the efforts. A system for coordination between the federal and provincial governments will also be established.
The meeting also decided to close the Kartarpur Corridor for Pakistanis, however Indian pilgrims will be allowed to continue visiting the Sikh holy site.
The NSC also decided to request the chief justice of the Supreme Court and chief justices of the provincial high courts to instruct all courts not to schedule cases of civil nature for three weeks. They would also be requested to direct judicial magistrates and session court judges to visit the concerned jails for three weeks to process remand and bail cases. No visitors will be allowed to visit prisoners in jails for three weeks, the meeting decided.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already declared the outbreak of COVID-19, a mysterious pneumonia-like disease caused by the coronavirus, a pandemic.
Originated in China late last year, the pandemic has so far claimed over 5,500 lives while hitting more than 130 countries around the world.
Out of total around 150,000 infected, around 75,000 have so far recovered.
