China-returned student quarantined along with father, brother

They are suspected of having contracted coronavirus

KARACHI: The health department quarantined a student, Shahzaib Rahujo, who travelled from China, along with his father, Muhammad Pannah, and elder brother, Irshad Ali, on Tuesday, suspecting them of having contracted coronavirus. According to health department officials, the student and his family will be kept under observation for the next 14 days.

"Pannah and Ali have spent time with Shahzaib, therefore it is better to keep them under observation," stated Khairpur Deputy Commissioner Naeem Ahmed Sindhu. All three family members have been admitted to the Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS).

According to Sindhu, blood samples of the three men will be sent to Islamabad for screening, before which it cannot be confirmed whether they have contracted the virus or not. He maintained that he had met Rahujo, who condition he said was stable.

Rahujo, who studies at a university in China, around 1,000 kilometres away from Wuhan, reached his village late Saturday night. Unable to book a direct flight to Pakistan from China, he had flown to Karachi via Qatar. "He was had a headache, flu and cough when he reached Qatar and took some medicine to relieve the symptoms and was able to reach the village safely," claims Ali.

According to Ali, health officials shifted his brother from Nangeri village to the dengue ward of the Khairpur Civil Hospital on Monday afternoon. He claimed that doctors had refused to treat Rahujo and therefore, the family had moved him to Islamabad. However, police had stopped the three at the Multan toll plaza early Tuesday morning and brought them back to the GIMS.

"We left the hospital for Islamabad around 10.30pm on Monday," said Ali, adding that they were on their way when the family was approached by Sindhu and other officials who asked them to return to the hospital. However, the family decided to carry on with their journey and go to Islamabad instead, before finally being stopped at Multan, where authorities barred them from going any further.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2020.