Second coronavirus case reported in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan's tally rises to 20

SKARDU: The second coronavirus case of Gilgit-Baltistan reported on Wednesday, raising Pakistan’s tally of total confirmed cases to 20, ARY News reported.

According to Gilgit Baltistan government spokesperson, a 14-year-old boy was diagnosed with novel coronavirus at a City Hospital in Skardu.

The patient hails from Skardu.

On Tuesday, a 12-year-old boy was diagnosed with novel coronavirus at a Quetta hospital. Dr Shams, a focal person for the isolation ward, said the boy who arrived in Quetta from Iran via Taftan border last night tested positive for the disease at the Fatima Jinnah Hospital.

Two more confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) surfaced in Sindh on the same day. A spokesperson for the Sindh Health Department said that one confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in Hyderabad while the other case emerged in the provincial capital.

The person who tested positive for the disease in Hyderabad had flown back from Syria via Doha, while the Karachi coronavirus patient had returned from Dubai.

Sindh to monitor inter-provincial borders

Sindh government on Wednesday has decided to monitor inter-provincial borders amid apprehensions about spread of novel coronavirus.

The provincial government departments will monitor the movement of people arriving in Sindh from other provinces, government sources said.

The provincial agencies will take information from the travelers entering in Sindh at the provincial border, sources said.

Sindh, having most cases of coronavirus in Pakistan, reeling under emergence of 10 cases of the disease within 24 hours including a relative of the provincial chief minister.

Situation Under Control 

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza said on Tuesday it is not surprising that coronavirus cases in Pakistan have more than doubled in the last 24 hours.

“Cases in Pakistan have more than doubled in the last 24 hours. This is not surprising. Disease has spread in 106 countries,” he tweeted.

“All 19 cases have brought this from abroad. All are stable. There is no evidence of local spread as yet. If we act responsibly we can avoid spread.”

In another tweet, Zafar Mirza said: “The most important to limit the spread of #coronavirus is to ensure that we observe hygiene by washing hands properly, avoid touching our face & keep distance with sick people. The govt is working hard to contain the spread, but we all need to take our part in this fight.”

Zafar Mirza said most cases were reported in Karachi as the people diagnosed with the virus came back home from Iran, London and Dubai.