Pakistan’s first coronavirus patient recovers

Ag PA

KARACHI/LONDON: Pakistan’s first patient of the novel coronavirus has recovered, Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab confirmed as the global number of individuals with COVID-19 passed 100,000.

“Very happy to inform that the 1st corona virus patient in #Sindh who was being attended to has recovered and his tests have now come out as NEGATIVE. Alhamdolillah,” he tweeted on Friday.

The Sindh health department spokesperson said the patient had been diagnosed with the coronavirus 10 days ago, however, he had tested negative thrice for the virus over the last 24 hours and no symptoms had been observed in the patient over the past 48 hours.

“The patient will be sent home today after his result comes back negative again,” he said. On Thursday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza confirmed the emergence of a sixth coronavirus case in the country. The latest, too, had emerged from Karachi.

Meanwhile, more than 160 people tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, in the largest day-on-day increase. In total, 163 people had tested positive for Covid-19 as of 9am on Friday, up from 115 cases reported at the same time on Thursday. It comes as the PA news agency understands that samples taken from an elderly patient who died at Milton Keynes Hospital are currently being investigated for coronavirus.

On Thursday evening another patient, reported to be a woman in her 70s, became the first person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with Covid-19 while at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

Last week, a British tourist who had been on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in Japan, became the first UK citizen to die from the virus.

In other developments a 43-year-old British businessman has been confirmed with Covid-19 in Thailand, and the Vatican confirmed its first case. A church in Devon has also closed after a parishioner was diagnosed with coronavirus, while the Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna temple, near Watford, closed its doors after a member tested positive. Two members of British Airways staff tested positive and PA understands the staff are baggage handlers.

Globally, the number of coronavirus cases has passed 100,000, with 3,400 deaths. Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited a Bedfordshire laboratory as the Government pledged an extra £46 million for research into coronavirus vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine cancelled its spring conference on continuing professional development in Bournemouth at the end of March.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the government is working with supermarkets to ensure food supplies as the number of people self-isolating is expected to rise. He sought to reassure the public following panic-buying in some areas, with supermarkets seeing their shelves cleared of essentials such as toilet roll and paracetamol.

Speaking on BBC’s Question Time, Hancock said: “The government has supplies of the key things that are needed, and, within the food supply, we are absolutely confident that there won’t be a problem there.”

Downing Street said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had regular meetings with the food industry to discuss risks to the supply chain, with a working group due to meet on Friday.

Meanwhile, 142 people from the UK—including 121 passengers and 21 crew—are among 3,533 people on the Grand Princess cruise ship currently quarantined off the coast of California. Princess Cruises said it was following advice from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and samples were collected on Thursday from 45 people deemed to be at risk.

It said in a statement: “Following guidelines received from the CDC, all guests have been asked to stay in their staterooms while test results are pending. Guests are receiving meal deliveries in their staterooms by room service, and additional television and movie options have been added to in-room programming.”

Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has said half of all coronavirus cases in the UK are most likely to occur in just a three-week period, with 95 per cent of them over a nine-week period.