The first two cases of the novel coronavirus in Pakistan have been confirmed, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said in a tweet on Wednesday evening.
“I can confirm first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan. Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols & both of them are stable,” he wrote. “No need to panic, things are under control,” he added, announcing that he will hold a press conference upon his return from Taftan.
Addressing a late-night press conference in Quetta on Wednesday, Mirza said one of the cases was reported in Sindh, while the second was confirmed in “federal areas”. He added that both the affected persons had travelled to Iran in the last two weeks, but refused to comment further on the two cases.
Mirza’s tweet came moments after the Sindh Health Department announced that a young man had tested positive for the coronavirus in Karachi.
The 22-year-old male patient travelled to Iran where he acquired COVID-19, Media Coordinator to the Health and Population Welfare Minister Meeran Yousuf said in a statement, days after Pakistan closed its land border with Iran, where 19 people have died from the virus.
The patient travelled from Iran to Karachi by plane on February 20. He and his family have been placed in quarantine and the Health Department is in the process of examining all the passengers that he travelled with, the statement added.
Speaking to a private news channel, Yousuf said the man had started showing symptoms while he was in Iran. His tests were carried out on Wednesday at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) which turned out to be positive, she said.
Yousuf said the Sindh government has informed the federal government, World Health Organisation and other partners about the confirmation of the virus in the patient. “The passengers who travelled with him were exposed as well; we will track down all the passengers and carry out their tests,” she added. No information was immediately available about the second case identified in Pakistan. The coronavirus has killed at least 2,700 people around the world, while more than 81,000 have been infected.
The virus is believed to have originated late last year in a food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. Health experts think it may have originated in bats and then passed to humans, possibly via another animal species.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation said there are now more new cases of the coronavirus reported each day outside China than inside the hardest-hit country.
The UN health agency had put the number of new cases in China at 411 on Tuesday and those registered outside the country stood at 427.
Meanwhile, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed announced the closure of Quetta-Taftan railway track following the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran.
In a video message on Wednesday, he said all the four trains plying between Quetta and Taftan will remain suspended until the closure of Quetta-Taftan border.
He asked the passengers to take back their booked luggage and other things. Also, the government took steps at Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan in order to block possible transmission of novel coronavirus in the country on Wednesday.
Afghanistan confirmed its first case of the coronavirus in the western province of Herat on Monday, declaring a state of emergency in a territory bordering Iran which itself reported a sharp rise in cases.
District Health Officer (DHO) Chaman has said that a team of doctors and paramedical staff has been posted at Bab-e-Dosti (Gate of Friendship), the border crossing with Afghanistan.
The officials at the border conducting Coronavirus screening test of the people coming from Afghanistan, DHO Dr Rafique Mengal said. “No person being allowed entry in Pakistan without the screening test,” the health official said. An ambulance also sent to Chaman border crossing to boost health arrangements, DHO further said.
Moreover, a special ward being arranged at district headquarters hospital Chaman, the official said.
“A team of medical technicians was already deployed at Bab-e-Dosti,” he said. Screening test of coronavirus being conducted in collaboration with the Red Crescent and the PPHI, Dr. Mengal added.
It is to be mentioned here that the authorities have made it compulsory for all passengers entering Pakistan to submit a health declaration form, which will include their contact details and brief travel history, in order to block possible transmission of novel coronavirus in the country.
Iran’s government on Wednesday said that 15 people had died nationwide from the coronavirus outbreak, rejecting claims of a much higher death toll by a lawmaker from the city of Qom that has been at the epicentre of the virus in the country.
Also, Pakistan deployed 13 doctors and other medical staff at coronavirus prevention facility at Torkham Gate.
According to details, medical teams have been deployed at the border after Afghanistan and Iran confirmed coronavirus cases. Thermal scanning of all travellers will be conducted at the border.