Khairpur student suspected of having coronavirus tests negative

ISLAMABAD: A Khairpur student suspected to be infected with a novel coronavirus has been cleared by the health ministry here on Saturday, ARY News reported.

Shahzeb Ali Rahouja, hailing from Rahouja village of Pir-jo-Goth, district Khairpur, had arrived in Karachi from China last week and was later declared suspect of having symptoms of coronavirus.

He was shifted to a taluka hospital, where the doctors and medical staff had refused to provide treatment. Later, he was shifted to the Civil Hospital Khairpur.

The Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) director on Saturday confirmed that Rahouja has no coronavirus and his reports are clear.

Shahzeb was studying petroleum at the Chinese university around 1,000 kilometers away from the Wuhan city of Central China’s Hubei province.

At least 722 people have died from the virus in China while more than 34,000 have been infected, according to the latest official figures.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza on Friday chaired a meeting to review measures taken to prevent coronavirus spread in the country.

Speaking during the meeting which was also attended by Federal Secretary Health Dr Allah Baksh Malik and armed forces representative Major General Amir Ikram, Dr Zafar Mirza said that National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad received 25 samples of suspected coronavirus patients.

“All of them have tested negative showing that there is not a single case of coronavirus reported in the country,” he said adding that they were taking steps to adopt all measures aimed at tackling the spread of coronavirus in the country.

He said that they have adopted international regulations at all seaports in order to avoid any transfer of the virus from there.