KARACHI, February 26: Two cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Pakistan’s port city, Karachi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza confirmed on Wednesday, minutes after the first case was reported in Pakistan’s port city.
“I can confirm first two cases of corona virus in Pakistan. Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols & both of them are stable,” Dr Mirza wrote on Twitter.
The second case was reported in Islamabad and was shifted to a quarantine in the capital’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
Earlier, a spokesperson for the Sindh health department confirmed that the 22-year-old patient – Pakistan’s first case – had arrived in aeroplane from Iran and has a history of travel to Tehran from where he reportedly acquired the virus.
The young man and his family were immediately placed in quarantine at a private hospital on the National Stadium Road. The federal health department was, as of reporting time, examining the passengers he has travelled with.
Further, the provincial health department was set to dispatch a team to inspect his residence as well as his neighbourhood.
Speaking to a private TV Channel , Sindh government spokesperson Senator Murtaza Wahab confirmed the case and said: “All safety measures have been taken and we will take emergency steps after this case. Most arrangements are being made by the centre but the Sindh government will play its part as well.”
Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the provincial government was “working to procure the data of the infected” under Chief Minster Murad Ali Shah’s orders.
“We are taking the data of all the people who were travelling with the infected person on his flight,” he added. “There are three isolation wards in Sindh, one in Civil Hospital [Dr Ruth K. M. Pfau Civil Hospital], one in Jinnah [Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC)], and one in AKUH [Aga Khan University Hospital].
“The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Sindh, has also been alerted” in this regard.-Agencies
