The fifth case of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Pakistan according to the Special Assistant to Prime Mininster on Health on Health Dr Zafar Mirza who tweeted saying:
We have now fifth confirmed case of COVID19 in federal areas. Patient is stable and is being managed well,” confirmed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza.
I request the media to respect the privacy of the patient and the family,
According to sources, the patient is a 45 year old woman who arrived from Iran a few days ago and is now being treated for the virus.
Her family members are also said to be under observation and being tested for the virus according to health officials.
So far there are four other earlier cases of the virus with two belonging to Karachi while the other two each belonging to Islamabad and the federal area.
After the emergence of the two cases of coronavirus in Karachi, the Sindh governement closed all educational institutions in the province till 13 March 2020.
Read more: Schools, colleges and universities to remain closed till 13 March in Sindh.
The Pakistan government has also closed its borders with Iran and Afghanistan since Iran has emerged as the new hotspot for the virus with over 1500 people now infected and 66 reported deaths.
Coronavirus is so far responsible for over 3100 deaths and over 83000 registered cases with majority of them in China where the virus emerged in their Hubei province.
So far Pakistan government seems to be taking all precautions against this novel coronavirus including setting up new thermal scanners at airports as reported by Dr Zafar Mirza through his tweet saying:
New and upgraded thermo scanners are now installed in major airports around Pakistan. This will further improve the efficiency of our port of entries and first line of defense against coronavirus,
Read more: Coronavirus: WHO satisfied by Pakistan response.