2,000 pilgrims set to arrive in Quetta post-quarantine

Pilgrims completed 14-day isolation period at the tent city in Taftan

QUETTA: Around 2,000 pilgrims are set to leave the quarantine tent city in Taftan after completing the mandatory 14-day isolation period at the Pakistan House on Friday.

Sources told The Express Tribune that pilgrims belonging to Balochistan will arrive in Quetta while others will leave for their respective provinces.

At least 50 busses will be escorted by the levies and Frontier Corps personnel to the provincial capital from the Pakistan-Iran border crossing.

By March 11, the number of quarantined pilgrims in Taftan rose to 4,000 – out of which 2,000 belong to Sindh. The quarantined individuals were placed in a tent city set up by the Balochistan government for Pakistani nationals entering the country from Iran.

Pakistan shut its borders with Iran and Afghanistan last week amid virus outbreak fears. A mobile lab was deployed to test suspected patients for the Covid-19 virus.



Preventive measures

Governor Balochistan Amanullah Khan Yasinzai directed universities across the province to remain closed till March 29 as a precautionary measure against the Covid-19 outbreak. The Balochistan government has already notified schools to extend closure till March 31.

In a tweet, Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan advised against public gathering. "It's not that we are scared or what," he explained. "[But] we can become a carrier and spread [it] to the rest and our own families."

People should refrain from big gatherings...its not that we are scared or what, we can become a carrier and spread to rest and our own families.

We all need to contribute and need to chip in at our levels....its very important and very sensitive.

Clean hands, make places clean

— Jam Kamal Khan, Federal Minister Commerce, Pak (@jam_kamal) March 13, 2020

Khan also issued a notification directing commissioners and deputy commissioners to disinfect all public sector establishments “including but not limited to schools, hospitals and offices as per the S.O.P related to prevention of Covid-19”.

The officials are ordered to ensure all private sector facilities such as schools, restaurants, hospitals and offices are also disinfected by the managers and owners.

The provincial government has also directed DCs to supervise establishment of at least 50 bedded isolation and quarantine rooms/ wards by the District Health Officers and medical superindendents.

In another notification, the Balochistan government limited person-to-person contact by barring visitors to enter the civil secretariat and closing visitation at prisons.  Only one attendant per patient will be allowed in hospitals across the province.

Cases in Pakistan

The tally for confirmed cases on Friday stood at 21 with 15 cases in Sindh, five in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Balochistan. At least 110 have been tested in Punjab, 251 in Sindh, 30 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18 in Balochistan, nine in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 32 in G-B.

So far Punjab, K-P, AJK and federal territories have not reported any confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.

Read The Express Tribune's live coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak in Pakistan and the around the globe here.