File photo. Twitter
Confirmed cases nationwide climb to 1,102, with 21 people having fully recovered
A 50-year-old woman who was infected with COVID-19 died in Rawalpindi on Wednesday after having arrived from the U.K. earlier this month.
A British national of Pakistani origin, the woman from Sohawa tehsil traveled from the U.K. to Pakistan around two weeks ago. Reportedly, she complained of her health worsening on March 19 and was shifted to hospital where she tested positive for the novel coronavirus. She has been buried in Mohrah Akra village and all her family members and contacts have been placed in isolation and are currently being tested for the virus.
As Pakistan reported it’s eighth death from the deadly disease, the overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 1,102.
Confirmed Cases, Total – 1,102
Punjab – 323
Sindh – 417
Balochistan – 131
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 121
Islamabad – 25
Gilgit-Baltistan – 84
Pakistan-administered Kashmir – 1
Deaths – 8
Recoveries – 21
Authorities have started to seal off areas, barring all movement from inside and outside, where clusters of cases have been reported. In Islamabad, the Bhara Kahu area was barred for entry and exit after six cases were reported from men who had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat earlier this month.
Similarly, two villages in Nagar district of Gilgit-Baltistan were sealed after authorities identified over 14 locally transmitted coronavirus patients there.
Also on Wednesday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced that the provincial government had received 500,000 facemasks, including 50,000 N-95 masks, which had been donated by China. “C.M. Sindh has decided that out of the 500,000 KN95 masks received from China earlier today, Sindh will keep 200,000 masks and the remaining will be distributed amongst Punjab, KP, Balochistan, AJK and GB governments,” Adviser to the Sindh C.M. Senator Murtaza Wahab posted on Twitter.
The Sindh government also announced that the C.M. had approved the purchase of 290 ventilators, 3.2 million units of personal protection equipment, 100 rapid kit antigen test machines, 100,000 testing kits, 50 RT-LAMP testing machines and 10,000 RT-LAMP kits, and 29 portable X-ray machines to boost testing capabilities in the province.
Most parts of Pakistan continue to be under lockdown despite reservations by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Sindh government has implemented the most rigid restrictions, barring all nonessential movement. Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have all followed, however, closing public and private offices and banning all public and private gatherings to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Globally, the virus has now infected more than 471,000 people, with 21,283 reported deaths. Per some reports, nearly a third of the global population is now living under coronavirus-related movement restrictions.