Official rebuts rumours of ‘coronavirus case’ in Swat

Young man admitted to Saidu Sharif hospital suffering from flu which is not responding to traditional medicines

SWAT: The top district administrator in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat has dismissed speculations on social media about the emergence of a suspected novel coronavirus case, saying the patient is suffering from seasonal flu which is not responding to conventional medicines.

“Muhammad Yasir, a 26-year-old biotech engineer, is suffering from conventional flu, but his flu is not responding to traditional medicines. Therefore he has been admitted to the Saidu Sharif Hospital for a thorough investigation,” Deputy Commissioner Saqib Raza Aslam said in a video message.

Deputy Commissioner Saqib Raza Aslam dismisses rumours of ‘coronavirus case’ in Swat 1/2https://t.co/FWRM5iVgCY pic.twitter.com/0GHmcsIpic

— The Express Tribune (@etribune) January 31, 2020

“He is suffering from influenza, but it is not right to label it coronavirus or even suspected coronavirus case because medical investigation is still ongoing,” he added.

Saqib said that there had been some movement of Chinese nationals in Swat two or three months ago. And after the coronavirus outbreak in the Wuhan city of China, “the district health officer (DHO) directed all health institutions to raise their sensitivity and vigilance level”, he added.

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“They [health institutions] were directed to refer for thorough medical investigation any patient who they even slightly suspect could be infected with the novel coronavirus,” Saqib said while strongly rebutting reports making the round on social media that the young man admitted to the Saidu Sharif hospital has contracted the deadly Wuhan virus.

Deputy Commissioner Saqib Raza Aslam dismisses rumours of ‘coronavirus case’ in Swat 2/2https://t.co/FWRM5jcS1y pic.twitter.com/33FqBznUAb

— The Express Tribune (@etribune) January 31, 2020

The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which originated in a wet market of Wuhan, in the central Chinese province of Hubei, has symptoms similar to conventional flu, including high fever, cough and shortness of breath. The pathogen has infected more than 8,000 people – all but a few of them in Wuhan – but has also spread to more than a dozen other countries.

Pakistani officials say no confirmed case of the novel coronavirus has been detected anywhere in the country thus far. A young Pakistani student, who returned to Pakistan from Shanghai city of China earlier this week, has been put in isolation as a precautionary measure, though he is healthy.

According to official stats, more than 500 Pakistanis are studying in various universities of Wuhan, which has been put under quarantine since the deadly viral outbreak, while the total number of Pakistani nationals in China is between 28,000 and 30,000 – most of them are students.