Latest update from Sindh, which now has 172 cases, has propelled national tally to 212
A spokesman for the Sindh government on Tuesday announced that the province had 172 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the national tally to 212.
In a post on Twitter, Adviser to the C.M. on Information Senator Murtaza Wahab said that more tests had come back positive for pilgrims who had recently been freed from quarantine in Taftan after returning from Iran two weeks back. He said that of the 274 pilgrims tested, 134 had come back positive for COVID-19. Of other residents of Sindh tested, 38 have been diagnosed with coronavirus, with two of those having fully recovered and returned to their homes.
While Sindh has thus far posted the most confirmed coronavirus cases from among pilgrims who were held in quarantine in Taftan, Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid told journalists earlier that the province expected to see a massive spike in cases once tests came back for the 750+ pilgrims who were currently quarantined in Dera Ghazi Khan. She also warned that another 1,200 pilgrims were set to return to Punjab today and they would also be tested before being allowed to return to their homes.
“Please do not leave your homes,” she had said, adding that prevention in the form of social distancing was absolutely necessary to halt the spread of the deadly disease.
Overall Tally
Sindh – 172
Punjab – 8
Balochistan – 10
Gilgit-Baltistan – 5
Islamabad – 2
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – 15
Globally, 158 countries have now been affected, with more than 6,500 people dead and over 170,000 infected. Several European nations, including Spain and Italy, have gone into lockdown and both the U.K. and U.S. have announced several steps designed to prevent the pandemic from overburdening healthcare facilities, including travel restrictions and calls for social distancing.