Pakistan confirms sixth coronavirus case

A resident (C) wears a face mask at a market in Karachi on February 28, 2020 as Pakistan has detected its sixth case of novel coronavirus. (AFP)

• Most of those infected by the virus recently traveled to Iran
• Pakistan has recently established isolation units in borderlands with Iran to screen returning pilgrims

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported a new coronavirus case on Thursday evening, taking the number of patients suffering from the infection in the country to six.
The announcement was made in a Twitter post by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza.
“6th case of #coronavirus in Pakistan is confirmed,” he wrote. “The patient is in clinically stable condition in Sindh and is being well taken care of.”
According to the local media, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah was also briefed in a meeting in Karachi that a 69-year-old man, who frequently traveled between Pakistan and Iran, had tested positive for the viral disease. The man had returned to Pakistan from his most recent trip to the neighboring country on February 25.
Most of the people who have contracted the disease recently traveled to Iran, a country that has recorded maximum number of cases outside of China.
Pakistan has already set up isolation units in its southwestern province of Balochistan to rigorously screen the people returning from Iran and quarantine them for about two weeks.
It has also refused to bring back its students and other nationals who are stranded in the virus-hit China since it fears an outbreak in the country.