Pakistan's tally of coronavirus cases climbs to 53 after biggest daily jump so far

ISLAMABAD: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan has climbed to 53, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza confirmed on Sunday.

Pakistan saw the biggest jump in its tally of coronavirus cases so far as 20 more people were diagnosed with the disease in the country today.

The total number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus has climbed to 35 in Sindh and 53 in Pakistan.

Speaking to ARY News, Dr Zafar Mirza said there are a total of 53 confirmed cases of the virus in the country as of March 15.

He said 13 labs have COVID-19 diagnosis facilities in the country.

The SAPM said Pakistani pilgrims visited the Iranian city of Qom where the outbreak of the virus occurred. They were put in quarantine at the Taftan border before being transported to their provinces in buses, he said, adding the provincial governments were provided with their complete information.

Zafar Mirza said the Sindh government conducted tests of these pilgrims upon arrival in Sukkur, of them, 13 tested positive for the virus. Had the provincial government not conducted tests, the affected pilgrims would have transmitted the disease to other people, resulting in a surge in such cases.

Earlier today, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said 13 people tested positive for COVID-19 from amongst the people who arrived in Sukkur from Taftan.

These people were purportedly kept in quarantine at the Pak-Iran border, he added.

It is to mention here that the first positive case of coronavirus has also been detected in Lahore.

A private laboratory that conducted the tests for the diagnosis declared the individual as infected.