Pakistan on Friday reported its third death due to coronavirus, as country’s tally of people affected by the infectious disease rose to 495.
The Sindh government confirmed first death of coronavirus patient, a 77-year-old man, in the province. The death was verified by Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho. The victim was a resident of Karachi and had no travel history. He was admitted to hospital on Thursday in a critical condition.
The coronavirus cases in Pakistan have surged to 495, as 252 patients have been tested positive for the epidemic in Sindh, 92 in Balochistan, 96 in Punjab, 23 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22 in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir and 10 in Islamabad.
As many as 11 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Balochistan on Friday, taking the provincial total to 92. A total of 993 people have been screened in the province thus far, according to the Balochistan health directorate.
Three new cases were confirmed in Karachi on Friday, taking the provincial tally to 252. Out of the 101 cases detected in Karachi, 61 are cases of local transmission, according to a spokesperson for the Sindh health department.
On the international front, Italy reported a record 627 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking its overall toll past 4,000 as the pandemic gathered pace despite government efforts to halt its spread.
The total number of deaths stands at 4,032, with the number of infections reaching 47,021. Italy has seen more than 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 in the past three days alone. Its current daily death rate is higher than that officially reported by China at the peak of its outbreak in Wuhan’s Hubei province.
Tunisian President Kais Saied on Friday declared a nationwide, round-the-clock self-isolation of inhabitants to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country after an increase in confirmed cases.
Saied did not specify the start time or duration of the self-isolation.
Tunisia, which has already closed its borders and imposed a curfew from 6:00pm to 6:00am, has reported more than 50 cases of the COVID-19 disease and one death.
Spanish authorities said on Friday they would turn a Madrid conference centre into a giant makeshift military hospital for thousands of coronavirus patients, as Europe’s second-worst outbreak claimed another 235 lives. Spain’s worst single-day death toll yet brought the country’s total fatalities above 1,000. Some 5,500 hospital beds, including intensive care units, will be set up inside the 240,000 square metre IFEMA conference centre on the capital’s outskirts to cope with surging demand expected in the coming days, the Madrid region said in a tweet.
California ordered nearly 40 million people to stay home and New York state on Friday told all non-essential workers to do the same while pleading for more medical personnel and supplies to treat coronavirus cases that could overwhelm hospitals. US President Donald Trump and other officials told reporters the United States was working with Mexico to suspend all non-essential travel at the border. The northern border with Canada already has been closed to non-essential traffic.
