‘Indian, South African variants detected in KP’

PESHAWAR: The Indian and South African variants of the novel coronavirus have been detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial health department confirmed Friday.

According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Secretary Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah, the Indian variant of the coronavirus was confirmed in a patient. Meanwhile, two patients who tested positive for the virus were found to be infected with the South African variant. Shah said that all three patients had arrived in Pakistan from the United Arab Emirates a few days ago. "All three infected patients are residents of Peshawar," Shah said, adding that the samples of 12 more patients had been sent to Islamabad for testing.

Providing further details about the infected patients, the provincial health secretary said that person who has been infected with the Indian variant of the coronavirus is 41 years of age, while the other two patients — who have been infected with the South African variant of the virus — are 38 and 18 years of age, respectively.

The health secretary also said that both the Indian and the South African variant of the novel coronavirus spread rapidly and are dangerous. He, therefore, urged the masses to strictly follow the government's mandated coronavirus standard operating procedure (SOPs).