65-year old patient showed symptoms of COVID-19 after he returned from Iran. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
The government earlier on Saturday confirmed two more cases of novel coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of such cases to four.
Confirmation of the cases has set off alarm bells as authorities scramble to screen hundreds of people who recently arrived from Iran, a major new hotspot for the virus.
One of the patients is from Karachi while the other is from the federal territory, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said while addressing a news conference earlier in the day. He also made an appeal to the media not to share personal details of the patients.
The earlier two cases were also detected in the same cities.
The 65-year old patient, M* had shown flu-like symptoms of COVID-19 on returning on February 20 from Iran, where he is believed to have contracted the contagious disease, said the officials.
Two more coronavirus cases confirmed in Pakistan
M* along with his family members was shifted to isolation ward in the government hospital, where he was tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Health officials in Sindh told The Express Tribune that all of his family members and relatives also underwent medical examination at the hospital after which authorities decided to place three of his relatives in the isolation ward.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, while chairing a meeting of the authorities concerned earlier in the day, directed the health department to contact the relatives of the fresh coronavirus patient who might have contracted the disease on meeting him.
“We will have to be more alert and effective to trace the people coming into contact with the suspects or patients so that spread of the virus could be contained,” he was quoted as saying.
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