ISLAMABAD: At least 180 nationals, who were repatriated from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, tested positive for the virus after reaching Pakistan, it emerged on Wednesday.
The 180 passengers were among 209 nationals who were brought home on an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi on April 28, according to the government’s Covid-19 portal.
According to health authorities, of those 209, tests of some 180 came back positive. The patients were transferred to the Fatima Jinnah University quarantine centre for medical assistance. Those tested negative will be quarantined at the Rawalpindi Women University as a precautionary measure to contain potential asymptomatic carriers.
According to Reuters, Pakistan has raised concerns with the UAE government that many returning nationals were infected and that crowded living conditions for workers in the Gulf state may be helping in the unconfined spread the virus.
“Both [governments] are working together to find [an] optimal solution to this shared concern,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqi told Reuters through a WhatsApp message.
However, a UAE foreign ministry official later said the government “completely rejects this version of events”. “Everyone on UAE repatriation flights has been tested before departure, and those found to be infected were not allowed to travel,” Assistant Undersecretary for Consular Affairs Khalid al-Mazrouei told Reuters.
