Chinese national admitted to Islamabad hospital not infected with coronavirus: medical report

ISLAMABAD:  The Chinese national who was admitted to an Islamabad hospital Tuesday over fears he may be infected by the coronavirus, does not have the disease, NIH medical reports said. 

Earlier, the patient was shifted to an isolation ward in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital from the capital’s airport. The patient's test samples were sent to the NIH for confirmation.

The Chinese national will be kept under observation for at least 12 hours.

The NIH’s officials said that they had received 25 samples suspected of coronavirus from Islamabad, Sindh, Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which were examined and termed negative.

China admits 'shortcomings, difficulties' in response to outbreak

China's top leadership on Monday admitted "shortcomings and difficulties" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak, as state media said a new hospital built at breakneck pace began receiving patients in the epicentre of the crisis.

Nearly 500 people have died as a result of the virus since it emerged in a Chinese live seafood and wild animal market at the end of last year.

With the coronavirus affecting more than nearly 17,000 people several airlines including Air India, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways and Lufthansa have suspended their flights to China.

Emergency declared in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government on Tuesday imposed a state of emergency in the province amid fears of the deadly coronavirus spreading from China into Pakistan.

The KP ministry of relief, resettlement and rehabilitation on Tuesday afternoon released a statement saying that the state of emergency was declared in line with the directives of the federal health ministry.

"Since we [Pakistan] are a neighbor of coronavirus-hit China, there is lots of foreign travel between the two countries. This is why the relevant departments should ensure that safety precautions are in place," it said.