Coronavirus cases jump to six in Pakistan

The 69-year-old man returned from Iran on February 25

KARACHI: Another coronavirus case was reported in Karachi on Thursday, pushing the total number of COVID-19 cases to three in Sindh and sixth in the country.

A 69-year-old man who returned from Iran on February 25 was tested positive in Karachi.

Minister of State for Health Dr Zafar Mirza has confirmed the case in his tweet.

"The patient is in clinically stable condition in Sindh and is being well taken care of," he added.

236/ 6th case of #coronavirus in Pakistan is confirmed. The patient is in clinically stable condition in Sindh and is being well taken care of.

— Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) March 5, 2020

The patient is admitted to a private hospital of the metropolis, he added.

Confirming the third positive case in the city, the Sindh government's spokesperson said that Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had directed the health department to shift the family members of the patient in an isolation ward and also screen those who were in contact with the Iran-returned man.

The new case has emerged as all educational institutes in Sindh have been closed till March 13 amid the fear of contagious disease’s outbreak in the province.

Of the sixth confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, all had a history of travel to Iran. Three of the cases are in Karachi and three in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The virus has spread to more than 30 countries, killing over 2,700 and infecting 80,000, mostly in China.

But new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and in Asia have fanned fears of the contagion taking hold in poor nations that lack the healthcare infrastructure to cope.

There are growing fears in Pakistan -- sandwiched between China and Iran, both hotspots for the disease -- over how the country would deal with the outbreak.