KARACHI: Sindh Health and Population Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho on Saturday confirmed two more deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking the national death toll to 14.
As of now, three deaths have been reported in the province which is under complete lockdown for a week now.
“We received the lab reports of both the patients after they had passed away. We found out that the cause of death in both cases was pneumonia along with Covid-19.
“One of the patients was 83-years-old while the other was 70-years-old,” she said.
Yesterday, Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on information, Ajmal Wazir has confirmed a fourth death in the province. The woman belonged to the Lower Dir area and had recently returned from Umrah.
Her village has been put under quarantine, Wazir had confirmed.
Separately, 789 pilgrims, who were suspected to be affected and placed in isolation in Sukkur, completed the mandatory 14-day isolation period and have been declared virus-free.
These pilgrims, who had come from Iran via Taftan border crossing, will now be allowed to go home.
Pakistan’s coronavirus toll currently stands at 1,526 after the emergence of new cases in Punjab, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). 28 people have so far recovered from the virus.
NO VIRUS CASE IMPORTED FROM CHINA: GOVT
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said that out of 1500 total cases in the country, not even a single patient has a travel history of China.
“This is remarkable if you think about it,” he said while briefing the team of Chinese doctors at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad. “This could happen only because of the coordination between Pakistan and China’s government and as a result of which it was decided not to let Chinese citizens travel before a 14-day period.”
Stressing that the government’s earlier to not expatriate Pakistani student from Wuhan, Mirza said, “It was a very tough decision but we worked very closely with the Chinese government. We just followed their recommendations and policies.”
“They were very nice; they allowed countries to expatriate even against their recommendation.”
“Today, when the disease is spreading in Pakistan, the students are thanking the government of Pakistan for not bringing them back,” added Mirza. “They are asking us to take care of their families like China took care of them.”
Mirza also noted that “China has written a new chapter in public health by putting close to 60 million people in quarantine”.
“Not just that but also rigorous implementation; the world has learnt from that,” he added.
