Seven new cases have surfaced in pilgrims who were put in quarantine at Taftan border on returning from Iran, raising the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 28 in Pakistan, State Minister for Health Dr Zafar Mirza confirmed on Friday.
Addressing a news conference here, he said a minor boy and his attendee woman are among those tested positive. He said a mobile laboratory has been established at Taftan border to treat any such cases. “All 28 cases are travellers,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, Sindh Health Department has confirmed a new case of COVID-19, taking the reported cases to 15 in the province. Media Coordinator to Health Minister Meeran Yousuf said a 52-year-old male having history of arrival from Islamabad two days back was tested positive on Friday. She said his contacts are being traced for the screening purpose.
She said 54 tests were conducted on Thursday but all were found negative. She further said two patients have been discharged so far while 13 others are still under treatment and are in stable condition.
Meanwhile, six Afghan nationals entering Pakistan via Torkham border were denied permission on Friday on suspicions of being infected by coronavirus. The Afghan nationals had recently travelled to China and the immigration officials at Torkham border refused them entry.
As many as 1,800 pilgrims on Friday were shifted to Quetta from quarantine at the Taftan border. The pilgrims were kept in quarantine after reaching Pakistan from Iran amid coronavirus threat that has claimed more than 450 lives in Iran. The pilgrims were shifted to Quetta in 50 buses under tight security.
Meanwhile, the return of Pakistani pilgrims from Iran via Taftan border continues. So far, 5,682 Pakistani pilgrims have returned from Iran.
The Balochistan government had closed the Taftan border last week and banned the travel of Pakistani pilgrims to and from Iran amidst coronavirus fears. Hundreds of pilgrims travel between the countries every day and there are fears that they might bring with them the highly contagious coronavirus.
The World Health Organisation on Friday warned that Europe is now the ‘epicentre’ for the global coronavirus pandemic and reporting more daily cases than China did at the height of its outbreak. “Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual press conference, describing the more than 5,000 deaths worldwide as ‘a tragic milestone’.
Kuwait’s religious authorities asked Muslims to pray at home on Friday as the emirate prepares to enter a period of virtual lockdown to fight the spread of the new coronavirus. “The doors of the mosques will stay closed,” said the ministry of religious endowment in a statement, citing a religious decree. “The fatwa removes the need to attend prayers on Friday in mosques, and authorises having them at home, to protect the people from coronavirus.”
confirmed 20 additional cases in the past 24 hours, reporting a total of 100 by Friday, the state news agency KUNA said.
