First two cases of coronavirus confirmed in Pakistan

By News Desk

KARACHI: Pakistan had detected its first two cases of novel coronavirus, Dr Zafar Mirza, the Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services, tweeted on Wednesday, days after Islamabad closed its land border with Iran, where 19 people have died from the virus.

“I can confirm first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan. Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols & both of them are stable. No need to panic, things are under control”, tweeted health advisor Zafar Mirza.

A statement issued by the Sindh health department stated the first positive case was reported in Karachi in a 22-year-old male with a “history of travel to Iran where he has acquired the virus.” The second case was reported in Islamabad. The patient was shifted to a quarantine in the capital’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

The young man and his family were immediately placed in quarantine at a private hospital on Karachi’s National Stadium Road.

The federal health department had started examining passengers the young man had travelled with. While the provincial health department was set to dispatch a team to inspect his residence and neighbourhood.

The 22-year-old’s condition reportedly started to deteriorate on February 18 and he underwent a hijama, or cupping therapy, at a local health centre in Iranian city of Mashhad. After that, he suffered from a headache. He arrived in Karachi on February 20.

The virus has spread to more than 30 countries, killing over 2,700 and infecting 80,000, mostly in China. But new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and in Asia have fanned fears of the contagion taking hold in poor nations which lack the healthcare infrastructure to cope.